Third in line
by Aura-ryo-chimera
Summary: When the Sakura Cards lose their master, life gets tougher for Kero when he has to find the third card captor, and recapture the cards in a rougher time and place...
1. introduction part 1

Prologue 10 years after

Kereoberos, Yue and Sakura were in an old fun house lying down. Sakura breathed shallowly. Sweat coated her brow. Kero and Yue were in their true forms. The star cards lay next to Sakura on the table. A plague had been going around lately. A strange new plague, and Sakura had been struck by it. Rain hit the glass on the windows. Everywhere people were falling ill and dying.

Kero and Yue couldn't get sick, but Sakura could. Kero held her cold hand. Tears flowed from both guardians' faces, even as they tried to hide them. Sakura's breathing slowed even more. As the storm raged outside, the wind howled along. The old carnival was deathly still. Soon, completely silent, but for the sobs of the two guardians. Kero lowered his ears and took the blanket in his jaws, pulling it over his dead masters face. She lay next to the rest of her family. United once more.

"What are we going to do now?" Kero asked. The star cards lay on the table. Some cards had let themselves out. Mirror, Fly, Dash, Windy, Jump and Nothing sat in silence next to their dead master. The storm shrieked outside, the rain hammered the glass."What can we do?" Keroberos repeated. Yue looked stoic, but his eyes showed his true loss. The beings huddled together. Yue looked at their surroundings. The old carnival, rundown and abandoned. Sheltered in an old fun house of all places. The storm raged outside. The city below was virtually empty. Nothing moved. Nothing lived. 'Except the cards and their guardians.' The beings looked at each other.

Yue looked back at the book set on the table. "We do… We do what we did when Clow Reed died." He answered softly. "We return to the book."

Chapter 1

A girl named Aura lay in the grass on the hill over looking the town. The sun shone brightly as she stared at the sky. The clouds floated past. Linkin park played on her i pod. Her eyes drooped as the clouds floated over the sun. The city below bustled as always.

'How do people shake disasters like that off so quickly?' She wondered. She looked to the crooked tree that sat atop the hill. 'They act like it's nothing, the millions, maybe a billion dead, and they just act like it never happened.' She turned her head to the ground below the tree. 'I'm probably the only one who even remembers you. What of the other victims.' She wondered.

She turned her gaze back to the sky. Aura was a somewhat short girl. A bit under 5 feet tall, she was blond with blue eyes. She always wore Capri's more than any other pants or shorts. Usually black or dark blue with a vertical white stripe on the outer sides. She also wore a light blue shirt that had darker blue sleeves. She was also almost always seen barefoot.

"CHIMERA! Come on! We're leaving for the field trip!" The orphanage director yelled, calling her by her last name, as always. Aura flicked her ears with a scowl on her face. She rolled onto her belly and got up, plodding over to the bus. "Look, it's the stupid B*tch." Some of the trendy kids jeered. Aura kept her face neutral as she took her seat at the front of the bus, near the window. She knew she wasn't liked, not that she liked them either, so it had become a habit to ignore other kids.

One of the guy's elbowed his buddy in the seat across from her and laughed. The idiot reached over and tried to grab Aura's backpack. She hissed and swung at him with her hand. Her claw like nails dug his skin away in neat little rows. "OUCH!" The idiot exclaimed.

Aura put her pack on her lap and stared out the window. 'How can humans be so smart collectively and such idiots on their own?' She wondered with a sigh. The bus eventually pulled to a stop outside a factory.

The group of students toured a factory that made plastic. Aura was among the few filling out her worksheet as they went. Eventually the tour was over and they all were dismissed for the day, and those going homwe to the recently overcrowded orphanages, like Aura, given six dollars to spend to get home.

Aura strode into the outdoor air. "Why did we have to tour the stinking factory? That stench will be stuck in my nose for weeks now." She muttered to herself. Or it looked as if she was muttering to herself. She could imagine the other person next to her. A girl with fluffy hair and a sympathetic look on her face, Aura's imaginary friend. 'I pity you. We got to watch a movie yesterday, and notes in class today.' The figure 'said' to her. The figure faded as Aura looked around distractedly at the stores. Her clawed feet tapped the sidewalk as she walked into a dusty bookstore.

She skimmed the titles. 'Ugh, romance novels.' She thought. She came to the back wall. The fat shopkeeper looked up. "Hey, buy somethin' ur' git out!" He bellowed.

Aura slowly skimmed them. Romance, romance, romance, title less, romance. Aura looked back at the blank one. It was pink, with a lion on the cover, but she took it out anyway. It had a strange seal on it and weird circles and runes. 'Like and alchemy transmutation circle almost. Can't be though, that died out hundreds of years ago.' She thought. "HEY! Buy or scram!" The shopkeeper yelled. Aura looked at the price tag. $5.50 to buy. She had six to spend. 'Not like I'm allowed to keep the change. I'll run home instead of taking the bus.' She reasoned. Paying for the book she left.

"Well, let's see what this is about." Aura said. She stuck a claw under the seal. It wouldn't open. She wiggled her claw. Stuck. She drew out her claw. No wonder it was stuck. Her claw had grit all over. Cleaning out the grit, she tried again. It popped open. "Huh, a dirty shop, probably in more ways than one." She muttered. The book was filled with cards. The one on top caught he interest. It looked like a rabbit-fox creature. It was titled the dash. "Dash, huh? You cute. Is it Dash or 'The Dash'?" She wondered, reading the title.

The card glowed and the floor under Aura's feet showed the circle on the book. The creature flew out of the card and stood in front of her. It made a strange noise and ran around the room. Aura dropped the book startled. The cards hit the circle and glowed. Suddenly they took off, scattering into other direction. Only the card that Aura held, Dash, stayed put.

The creature returned to its card. The book glowed a moment, and a yellow head emerged. Two ears, a small body, little wings. It lifted its head and stared at her. Aura stood there and stared back. The creature opened its mouth…


	2. part 2

Chapter 2

"Hey, who are you?" Aura interrupted curiously, before it had a chance to speak. The creature opened its mouth again. "I'm Keroberos the guardian beast of the star cards. You can call me Kero for short." He answered. Then after a moments silence he continued," Who are you? And why did you let all the cards out?" And gritted his teeth under his smile.

Aura tilted her head again. "Bug." She said. Kero blinked. "Your name is bug?" He said, disbelievingly. Aura shook her head. "No. I'm Aura. And you look like a bug." She explained. A sweat drop appeared on the back of Kero's head.

'I look like a bug?' He wondered, looking puzzled. 'As if plush toy wasn't bad enough.' Aura grabbed his tail. "Fuzzy buggy." She stated.

Kero grabbed his tail back. "Hey, no grabbing. I'm a guardian beast, not a stuffed toy. Or a Bug!" He exclaimed. Aura grinned like a happy idiot.

"Mouse." She said agreeably. Kero slapped his forehead, gritting his teeth harder. Aura reached out a finger and began to pet him. "Awww, mousy no be sad, I'm just hyper." She explained, and then continued into a little poem she had heard, and that she though perfectly explained the situation at the moment.

"Flappity-Floppity-flip. The mouse and the Mobius strip. The strip revolved. The mouse dissolved. In a chronodiemensional skip."

Kero blinked. 'Isn't the seal supposed to keep nutcases like this out?' He thought to himself. Aura replaced the grin with a curious look. "So, are you a mouse? Why did the fox- bunny turn into a card? Why did a transmutation circle appear just now, and how did you fit into that thin cover?" She asked, pointing at the book again.

Kero floated in the air and began to explain. "I am not a mouse, the Dash is a card and that was it's true form spirit, it's the sealing symbol, and magic." Aura nodded, not really getting some of it, but not caring yet.

"Also, since you dropped the cards and caused them to scatter, you have to get them all back. Just so you know." Aura picked up Dash and the book. "Kay." She chirped. Kero floated after her as she walked to the door. "What, just like that? No arguing or anything? What a change." He muttered. Aura reached with her free hand to pet Kero.

Sure, why not? It gets really boring around here anyway. Why do you smell like pudding?" She asked out of nowhere. Kero grinned sheepishly.

"What can I say, pudding's always been my favorite treat. "Aura grinned. "Bet you don't know what pudding is though." She challenged. Kero turned around. "What?" He asked. Aura grinned a creepy, toothy grin.

"In the medieval periods pudding originated as a meat based product. There were two types, black or white pudding. Black pudding was sausages filled with fat, blood and edible cereal or vegetables to soak the blood up. Do you want to know what white pudding was?" She asked.

Kero looked like he was going to be sick. "Err. No I don't think I do." Aura laughed at the look on his face.

"But I swear, it's true. I found it online. Three different sources agreed." She continued. Kero looked creeped out, and had to ask, "Why, were you researching, that?"

Aura shrugged as she opened the door to her room. "Anyway, It's almost diner time. Wanna come?" She asked. Kero raised an eyebrow. "What if I'm seen?" he asked. Aura grinned. "Everyone knows I'm crazy, and I collect stuff. Just don't move or talk and we'll be okay, they'll think you're a toy," She said. Kero sighed and landed on her shoulder. She curled his tail over the opposite shoulder and walked towards the kitchen.

Kero sniffed the air. "What's for dinner anyway?" He whispered. Aura shrugged. "Don't know. Probably mush again." She answered. "Smell's awful." Kero said. Aura nodded in agreement. "Always is."

At dinner, Aura sat down at one of the tables. It looked like spaghetti and meatballs, except the noodles were a grimy yellow and the cheese was clumped together in chunks. Aura gulped it down in three bites. Not because it was good, of course, but so she wouldn't taste it.

"Eww… You really have to eat this slop?" Kero asked. "Yup." She answered, downing the milk, which was the only good part of the meal.

Suddenly, the idiot from earlier came up, looking angry. "Hey, why'd you scratch me, *! That hurt my hand!" He shouted.

Aura put down her empty cup, and raised her head up slowly, with a snarl and growled, "If you want you're hand to be in one piece, don't touch my stuff, moron."

"Hey, a dumb chick like you shouldn't talk that way to me, *!" He spat out.

Aura stood up with her snarl even fiercer. She glared at him, the creepiest, meanest glare she could get. "Guess what * Bag, I'll talk however I please, and that's to you or any of your other creeps. " She snarled fiercely.

He was getting really mad now, and started to clench his fists. "Guess what *, you shouldn't have said that. You're a real dumb * *! You still play with your stuffed toys!

*!" He exclaimed, grabbing Kero off her shoulder. Aura gave an angry hiss and grabbed the thug's wrist, squeezing hard. "OW!" He screamed, dropping Kero. Aura caught him.

Then the moron swung at her and hit her in the cheek. He hit her again in the eye. "You * *, you fight like a girl!" He crowed. Aura roared and swung her knee up. His eyes bulged as he knee hit him hard, right between the legs. He doubled over, crashing to the ground in pain.

She looked down at him, with an irritated scowl. "Yes, I do fight like a girl. And you fight like a guy." She snarled, stepping over him and making her way back to her room. She calmly stepped inside as her face began to show the bruises and her swelling eye.

She locked the door and put Kero on her bed. "Who was that?" Kero asked. Aura plopped down next to him. "One of the high-and-mighty-morons as I call them. The think they run the orphanage and the school. They're actually kind of like a gang around here. That's why I usually try to hang out in the woods, with its hidden escape routes, or in the crowd, where they won't dare attack." She said. "Anyway, I'm going to bed, kay? You sleep somewhere else. You can sleep in the other pile of plushies. They make good blankets." She advised, flopping onto the bed and pointing to a pile of assorted stuffed carnivores.

Kero stared at the pile of toys, before deciding it was better than the floor, and the two were soon fast asleep.

Later that night the doorknob jiggled. The lock unturned and the moron stuck his head into the room.

Kero lay awake thinking. 'Why can't I remember what happened to me. I know this isn't my first time out of the star card book, but I don't remember anything at all. I don't get it.' He thought, in confusion. He perked his ears at the sound of footsteps at the doorway, sticking his head out of the pile. It was that jerk Aura had fought at dinner, but this time, he wasn't alone. Two other muscled teens were with him. "Look, there's the chick that had the * to attack me. Let's go." He snarled at his two minions. They picked the lock and crept into the room, each holding a knife.

Kero shot out of the pile. "AURA! Wake up!" He yelled. Aura's eyes flew open and she looked around the three guys' turned to stare at Kero. "Dude, did that toy just warn her!" One yelped in surprise. The leader turned back to Aura. "Who cares, we'll destroy it later if it did, but right now, we're going to make mince meat out of this * here!" He yelled running at Aura with the knife.

Aura ducked down under the swing and elbowed the thug in the stomach. His breath left in a whoosh as he fell over. She leapt out of bed, landed on all fours and leapt at the next one. She roared and gnashed her teeth.

He stepped back as Aura lunged. She bit down hard onto his arm. He screamed as blood flowed onto the floor. Kero was beating his wings into the face of the third goon as Aura knocked the second unconscious. The first idiot staggered to his feet and lunged at Kero. His knife was buried in Kero's right hind leg in a heartbeat.

Kero yelled as Aura knocked the moron down. The last gangster turned and fled. Aura kicked the others out of her room, then locked and barricaded the door. Then she rushed over to Kero. "Kero? Kero, come on, you okay?" She asked. Kero shuddered and held his leg in his stubby arm. "No." He groaned. Aura looked around the room and grabbed a pillowcase. She opened the window and hoisted Kero onto the pillowcase. Then, grabbing the card, she looked at Kero.

"Kero, how do you use this thing? It was fast when it ran around the room earlier. Could it help carry you to the place where I have my bandages, or…" She trailed off. Kero flinched and held his leg.

"Bring the book and put it under me. Then step over there." He pointed to a spot in the room, and Aura what he told her to. Kero started to recite the words to summon a card captor's key, and a bright little light floated out of the seal. It floated into the center of a circle and hovered there. The key stretched into a staff. It had a crescent moon shape on its tip, and above the points on the moon were two tiny spheres. The blue white staff hung there. "Aura, take the staff. Hurry!" Kero yelped, as more blood seeped past his paws. Aura entered the circle and grabbed the staff. "I, Keroberos, now declare Aura, a card captor." He ground out. The light faded and Aura held the staff. "Now, summon the Dash. It should be instinctive." He said. Aura let instinct take over and began to speak her summoning spell...


	3. part 3

Chapter 3

"Key of the star,

Power of magic,

Power of light

Surrender the wand,

The force ignite, Release!"

Her staff appeared and she gripped it. "Dash!" She said. Her card glowed and Dash appeared. It ducked inside her and she picked up Kero in the pillowcase. The thugs were stirring and shouting outside the door already. She jumped out of the window onto the grass below and ran. She ran quickly. She headed for the tree on the hill. She got there and lay Kero down on the grass. She climbed up the tree until she got to a hollow section of the tree. She dug around and pulled out some cloth and a couple of strange green and yellow leaves. The oily leaves smelled like lemons, as Aura climbed down. Then, she tired the leaves over the wound. She wrapped the bandage around Kero's leg and stepped back. Kero lay on the ground unconscious. She gently climbed the tree with him. Coming again to the hollow, she set him inside. The wind howled as Aura curled up on the branch outside.

Kero opened his eyes. 'What happened?' He wondered. He became aware of a strong sting in his leg. He hissed and winced as he regained consciousness. Aura perked her ears. "You awake Kero?" she asked softly. Ho nodded. "Why does my leg sting so bad?" he asked. Aura rested her head at the edge of the hollow. "That's the star shade. It's oily, but it cleans out most infections and should make the wound heal a bit faster." She said. Kero nodded and sat up. "Hey, Aura, you sense that?" He asked. Aura looked around. The wind blew and stirred some of the leaves. The crescent moon hung in the sky. Nothing moved. Kero sat tense and alert. Aura did too. "Nope, I got nothing." She said relaxing. Kero blinked. "It feels like a star card." He said. Aura shrugged. "If you say so. Where is it?" She asked. Kero closed his eyes. He focused on the presence of the star card. He could feel it. Below him. About, maybe a foot below him? No, less, half a foot? No, Wait, 'I'm sitting right on top of it!' Kero realized. He was about to get up. Aura picked him up gently by his scruff. "No, you stay off that leg." She said. Kero wiggled. "Wait, I'm sitting on a card!" Kero explained. Aura raised an eyebrow but looked anyway. " Lock. Well, this is easy." She said. Kero sat down. "Sign your name on it, and it will obey you. But this one was inactive still, lucky you." He said. Aura pawed thought the leaves and pulled out a black pen. Aura Ryo Chimera. She signed her name on the card. "So Kero, what does the lock do, besides the obvious." She said Kero lay back against the trunk. "The lock? Well, it locks rooms and boxes. It can keep you in or out." He said. Aura perked her ears. "You don't say. How powerful is it? Could it keep my room locked up all night?" She asked. Kero brightened as a chilly wind blew past. "Yhea, so, can we go back now? I'm cold." He said Aura picked him up by the scruff and stuffed him in her jacket collar as she climbed down.

She re-summoned dash and ran home. She climbed up to the windowsill. The room was empty of people. The door was open and the chair pushed aside. Aura climbed into the room. Silent still. She crept to the door and shut it quickly. She had her staff out and she tapped the Lock with it. "Seal the room for the night." She whispered to it. The lock spread into a green mist and seeped into the walls. Dash floated in front of Aura. "So, are these cards useful or what?" Kero asked Aura grinned. "Yhea, they are. Can they be let out to just wander around?" she asked Kero. He cocked his head. "Yhea, I guess so, but without a task they might cause trouble." He said. Aura looked at the room. Her plush toys were all over the floor. The pillows were strewn about. "Well, I could use some help cleaning up, before daybreak. And a hand warmer." She said staring at Kero's healing leg. She tapped the staff to Dash. Dash hopped out of the card. Aura leaned over to pet it. "Hey Dash, think you could help me clean up a bit?" I need to get it done before morning dorm inspections, and daybreak is coming fast." She said. The purple creature squeaked and set to work helping to put everything away. Kero did what he could by picking up loose papers.

At last the trio was done. Aura picked up Dash and cuddled it. "My, you are a cute fuzzy card, aren't you." She squeaked quietly to it. Dash looked up. "I am aren't I." It squeaked. Aura stopped nuzzling it. "Hey, you can talk?" She asked it. Dash looked just as startled. "And you can understand me?" It asked. Aura nodded. I'm just weird I guess." She muttered. Dash sat down. "Well, if that's all, do I have to go back in my card?" He asked. Aura shook her head. "As long as you don't cause any trouble, you can stay out." She said

Dash wagged his tail.

End of story 1

(Review please)


	4. Little

The Little

"Okay, so, tell me again why I'm riding your shoulder to school again?" Kero asked from his perch. Aura scratched behind his ears. He smiled happily. Aura walked down the sidewalk with him curled over her shoulders like a plush toy scarf. Aura turned her attention back to the road. "Because, if the high-and-mighty-morons came back and saw you, you'd be in trouble. They saw you bleed from the knife and I don't want my trainer gone while I'm still new at this. That and I can't sense the cards very well." She said. Kero looked at the sun. His leg throbbed a bit as they walked. The clouds were gone today, and the sun shone brightly on him.

He looked down at his leg again. It began to itch. His face twitched as he tried to stay stuffed. He pawed at the bandage again. "When do I get this thing of again?" he asked. Aura scratched his leg for him so he could still act stuffed. "It comes off tomorrow at this rate. You sure heal fast." She commented. Kero swelled with pride. "Well, I am the guardian beast of the star cards." He said. Aura looked ahead. The school loomed in front of them.

"I feel like I forgot about something." Aura said. Kero shrugged. Aura walked into her first period. Kero looked over her shoulder as she took her two column notes. His ears drooped. "Aura, I'm bored." Kero whispered in her ear. "She nodded in a agreement. This continued until the bell rang. Aura put her paper in the tray and walked to second period, history, then third, the fourth fifth, and finally last period.

The teacher walked in. "Well, it should take the rest of the school day for the pictures, so let's go." He said. Aura blinked. "Oh, yhea knew I forgot about something." She muttered. Kero raised his ears. "A girl that manages to forget about picture day? Wow, that's got to be rare." He chuckled. Aura reached up and flicked his nose. He scowled as the class made their way to the library for the pictures.

"Mam' please leave your stuffed toy outside the area." The photographer said. Aura noted Kero's barely suppressed anger at this, but put him on the table behind the camera. Kero sat still, looking stuffed. His ears perked as he sensed something. Aura walked over and scooped Kero up, replacing him as a cute scarf. "Hey, Aura, sense that?" He asked. Aura looked around. She closed her eyes. Her ears perked up as she listened. There was a slight pinging sound. "Sorry Kero, I don't sense anything, but there is a weird noise over there." She said pointing. She walked over to a bookshelf.

She skimmed the titles. 'Hey, where did the M.R. series go?' She wondered. A small pinprick of light jumped out from behind the bookshelf. "Hey, what's that? A star card?" Aura asked. Kero nodded. "I think it's the-" The card jumped up and landed on Kero. Then, it landed on Aura. The two began to shrink. "- Little card…" Kero finished. Aura looked at the little. It giggled and hopped away. Aura looked back over at Kero.

"Hey, Kero, you're huge." She said. Kero sat at the same height she did. "Well, yhea, we were separated during shrinking. If not, you and I would be the usual sizes in comparison." He said. Aura looked back at Little, who perched herself on a higher bookshelf.

"Hey, Kero, now that you're bigger, can you give me a lift?" She asked. Kero dipped his wings so Aura could climb on. The two took off into the air. Aura steered Kero as Little jumped to the window. The window unfortunately happened to be open. Little jumped off the windowsill into the bushes below. "Pegasus gets a makeover." Aura joked. Kero dipped after Little. Little jumped atop a tree. He followed. Little skimmed a lake that war really a puddle. Kero was slowing. "Kero, am I still to big?" Aura asked. Kero nodded as he panted for breath. They reached the other side of the puddle, and Kero collapsed panting. Little giggled from her perch in a bush. "I think we should split up. You recover and I'll try to convince Little this isn't all that funny." She snarled glaring at the card who was putting on a 'who me?' Look. Kero lay on the grass, as Aura got ready to leave. "Wait, Aura, the way you get back to normal is to get touched by the little again. She's a very tricky card, so be careful." He warned. Aura nodded. "Right, I'll do my best to be a klutz and get myself killed, of course I'm going to be careful. Sorry but that type of advice just seems kind of dumb to me." She said. Kero scowled, but said nothing. Aura raced after little on all fours.

The chase continued. Aura was panting for breath as they raced through the bushes. Little laughed as Aura chased futilely after her. Little bounced away backwards pointing at her victim behind her. A few thin lines of sticky thread hovered in the air.

"Little! Look out!" She screamed. Little turned around confused. Her eyes widened as the threads grew closer. She stopped bouncing, the glue on the web capturing her. She screamed and squirmed around, but the web just tangled her more. Aura gasped and raced ahead as a spider noted the vibrations in the web. Aura threw small rock at it, about the size of a grain of sand. The spider didn't even notice as it crawled over to Little. Aura threw more grains of sand, but most missed. The spider bit Little to stun it. Little cried out as the spider began to wrap her in silk. Little lay still, paralyzed by the venom. Aura threw another rock at the spider. Little was almost completely wrapped in silk by the time Aura reached the base of the web.

She began to climb up the web, making sure to avoid the glues. The spider finished wrapping up Little and got ready to eat her. Aura gave a roar as she leapt on to the spider's head and scratched the big compound eyes. The spider Hesitated as Aura attacked the next eye. The spider dangled upside down and Aura dug her claws into the eye, trying to hold on. 'Oh no, I can't hold on!' She thought. Her claws slipped as she fell to the ground below. Aura looked around for a way to save little. The spider was coming back now.

"Oh no!" Aura exclaimed. She looked around. A shard of gravel lay nearby; it looked about the size and shape of a sword to Aura. She grabbed it and climbed the web again.

She hurled the shard at the spider. The spider retreated and tried to remove the shard of stone. Aura raced for the cocoon containing little. She began to tear at the strings containing the card. Little squirmed her best out of the net of silk, sticky to the touch. Aura touched Little and began to grow. She jumped out of the way as she grew, so as not to squish the poor card. She plucked Little up I the cocoon so she wouldn't shrink again. She pointed a finger at Little as she was brought up to eye level.

"You have been a very naughty card, haven't you." She said. Little looked sad. "Well, I suppose that's the reason you all are able to be turned into cards though." She said. "Anything to say for yourself. Little looked at the ground. Aura walked back a few steps. Kero looked up as she towered over him.

"Hey Kero, do you know where I left my key?" Aura asked. Kero nodded. "Aura picked him up and tapped him on Little. He grew back to his normal size and Aura put him back onto her shoulder. The two walked back to school and snuck back into the library. She walked to the bookshelf and saw the tiny book that was missing. She tapped little to it as it grew back to normal. She picked up her key and walked into the bathroom. "Good, it's empty." She said. She turned the key to a staff and tapped little. "I command you to return to your power confine, Little!" She said. Little was absorbed back into a card. Aura pulled out a pen and signed the card.

The two got home and Aura plopped onto the bed. "Lock card, lock the room up again." Aura said. Lock spread over the room. "Well, you look exhausted. What happened?" dash asked raising his head. Aura flopped onto the bed. "I had to catch a card at school. I almost failed. Little was almost eaten by a spider." She said. Dash nodded. "Little has always been a bit careless to look where she leapt. That's why she was given levitation. Otherwise she would have drown in puddles and bath tubs ages ago." Kero nodded. "Not a fun capture for me either. I had to fly Aura most of the trip. Then some stupid cat thought I was a bug." Kero muttered. Aura nodded. She pulled out the pink card. Hey, Little, if you want to come out, you can, just don't cause any problems." She said to it. The card glowed and the little being jumped around. Aura sat on the bed. "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when 'dinner' is ready." She said.


	5. Freeze

The Freeze

Aura walked up the stairs. Cold weather and cold food. "Hip hip hooray." She muttered. She opened the door to her room and walked in. Her soup was almost frozen by now. The orphanage was cold enough with the heater, but now because Little had been playing around and shrank a part, the whole heating system was down and Little was in time out.

"Hey Aura, so, bring something to eat?" Kero asked. Aura nodded. She held out the soup. "Dig in. Slushy soup and ice in a cup." She said setting down the bowl. "Lock up." She said. Lock sealed the room. "Hey Aura, the h.a.m.i. Haven't attacked recently, why lock everything up all the time?" Kero asked. Aura began to lap the soup up like a cat. "Because, the high and mighty idiots, or as you have dubbed them the h.a.m.i, are likely waiting for the opportunity. They may be idiots as individuals and small groups, but they can come to think a bit ahead collectively. Never pays to underestimate opponents. Insult, tease, and mock, yes, underestimate, no." Aura said. Dash nodded in agreement. "But it is hard not to, they act so reckless and stupid, what else would you do?" Dash said.

Kero nodded. "Hey Aura, you find us a couple of scarves yet?" Kero asked. Dash cocked his head. Aura sighed. "No, not yet, most are in use, or being horded." She said. Kero and Dash looked glum. "But it's even worse at night. We're freezing! Dash may be able to turn into a card and keep warm, but what about me, huh? I'M FREEZING!" Kero yelled. Aura stuck a finger over his mouth. "Don't yell, we don't need someone finding out." Aura muttered. Kero slumped down. "Yhea, okay..." He agreed.

Dash lapped a little soup. "Ur, euk, yuck, this stuff is half frozen!" Dash said Aura nodded. "No stove, no hot soup. No hot anything actually." She shrugged shooting a small glare at Little. "I said I was sorry." Little whined. Aura sighed. The cards could be a little trouble if they were all this weird. The cards returned to their sealed forms and Aura climbed onto her bed. She patted the pillow. "Hey Kero, come on up. It's so cold I can't have you getting a cold or something. "YAY! Blanket!" Kero exclaimed flying onto the pillow. He nabbed part of the blanket and snuggled in deep. Aura scratched behind his ears. The two fell asleep as the snow fell outside.

"Good morning. Any warmer?" Aura asked as she woke up and began to stretch. Kero smiled. "Oh yhea! Much!" He flew out of bed Dash glowed and popped out of the card. "Uh, Aura, little wants to know if she can come out yet." Dash said. Aura sighed. "Sure, but I can't see why. It's still so cold and all." She said. Dash touched the star book. Little came out of her card. "Well, nice morning huh?" She asked. Aura nodded.

The sun glared off the snowy ground. Kero floated to the window. "Nice morning, to watch from a nice snug house." He said. Dash chuckled. "Yhea, all that light out there. You must be delighted." He said. Kero grinned his 'you-know-it grin. Aura picked him up by the scruff. "Well, since you like it so much, you get to go out in it with me." She said. Kero scowled. "How come?" He asked. Aura wrapped him tightly around like a scarf. "Cause' I'm going to the woods to do some hunting. That soup doesn't have enough calories alone. I need meat, fatty and full of blubber if I could get it." She said. "And you are coming too, so is Dash. I want to make a good quick catch." She said. Dash lowered his ears. "Aw come on. Why me?" He asked. Aura just picked him up as an answer. She grabbed her staff and dash returned to his card. She put him in her pocket and went to the door. Lock returned to its card, as did Little. She put all the cards into her pockets and left. "Hey, Aura, why don't you ever revert your staff to a key?" Kero asked Aura shrugged. "I like it as a staff. I like the feeling of a big intimidating weapon in plain sight to deter attackers." Kero shivered. They eventually reached the edge of the woods. Aura took out Dash. "Okay Dash, the sooner we find a meal, the sooner we go home. Kero, can you scan from the sky?" Aura asked. Kero slowly uncurled and took to the sky.

Kero dove down at aura. "Aura! I saw a rabbit! That what we need?" He asked shivering. Aura nodded. "Dash, I need you to scare it my way. Kero, can you kept it away from the den? I'll catch it and make the kill." Aura said. Dash scowled. "Hey, why do you get to be the boss? Maybe I wanted to guard the burrow. Maybe Keroberos wanted to chase it to you." Dash complained with his ears back. Aura leaned over and stared straight into Dashes eye with a stern and confident gaze. Dash was beginning to regret the challenge. "Why am I boss? I caught you, I'm the card captor and I'm nice enough to let you roam free if you use good judgment." She said. Dash lowered his ears in embarrassment. Aura straightened and stared down at the card. "Also, and most important, I'm bigger and stronger." She said with a friendly smirk. Dash smirked. "I thought that was it."

The trio took their places. Dash sprang out of a bush at the rabbit. It bolted for its hole where Kero spooked it to Aura, who clawed it to the ground and promptly crushed its skull. She built a fire with her kindling once they found a dry spot. The rabbit roasted as Aura began to cut the skin into strips. "Hey, Kero, Dash, I'm making you a couple of scarves." She said wiping the blade off.

She looked out to the lake. There was a thick sheen of ice over the surface. She stood at the edge of the ice. The ice shone clear and hard. Kero floated over. As he reached the lakes edge he froze, metaphorically, he froze. His ears perked as he tensed up. "Hey Aura, sense that?" He asked. Aura shook her head. "Nope, what 'cha sensing?" She responded.

"A star card. I wonder which one it is." Kero said. Aura stood up straight.

A shadow moved under the surface. Aura turned back to camp. "Dash, watch the food. Watch, don't eat, but don't let it burn." Aura instructed. She faced the ice. A shadow moved around in the lake. Aura stepped hesitantly onto the ice. The leisurely swimming creature suddenly whipped around to face aura. It swam her way as she put her other foot onto the ice. Kero stared at the shape a moment. "Aura! Off the ice! It's the freeze card!" He exclaimed. Aura jolted and tried to run away. She slid on the ice as the creature swam in front of her. It jumped up and Aura panicked, sliding off to the ice. She realized where she was once she was about 40 feet onto the lake. Her hands and claws scrambled for grip as she tried to bolt for the land. The Freeze slid in front of her, creating a wall of ice blocking her. She looked around. The ice surrounded her. The freeze jumped into the air and hovered a moment over Aura. It dove at her and Aura opened her mouth. A burst of fire shot out, striking Freeze in the face. Is slumped down as Aura raised her staff. She tapped it to Freeze. "Freeze card, return to your power confine, Freeze!" She exclaimed. Freeze floated into her hands. Kero floated near her cautiously. "Uh, Aura, um… did you just… uh, breathe fire at the card… just now, I mean…" Kero stuttered. Aura nodded. "I forgot to tell you didn't I. Well, I'm not a human. I'm a chimera. Not just in name but in species. I'm a human-tiger-wolf-fox-dragon-rat-mouse-spider-fly-griphin-lion-cobra-hippo-" Aura started listing off a jumble of animals. Kero blinked. About five minuets later… "-snow lepord-goat-rabbit-shark-squid-cattapillar chimera." A combination of about 100 species of animal, about 2500 years old, give or take a century. A marvel of transmutation alchemy and an experienced time-space jumper. And don't you forget it." She finished Kero floated in place and blinked. "Don't forget it? How can I even remember it!"" He exclaimed. Aura grinned and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, it took me about 50 years, so I don't actually expect you to." She explained. "Now, let me sign my name on Freeze and we can eat our catch." She said.

The two looked over to Dash who stood waiting by the edge of the lake. "Wow, don't find one of you every day do we?" He asked. Aura grinned. She drew out Freeze. "Hey freeze, same deal as everyone else. You can roam outside the card, as long as you don't case any trouble." She said. Freeze slid out of the card back into the frozen lake. "That you, new master. This is a nice change from my previous masters. Both weren't very keen to let me out." Freeze rumbled in a deep voice. Aura grinned. "Normal is overrated any way." She said. The group sat down to the rabbit, now a nice cooked and juicy meal.


	6. Jump

The jump

The star cards, Kero and Aura were sitting at the edge of Freezes Lake. Winter meant Freeze wouldn't stand out much. Dash scowled as he slipped again. "Dang it! I can't run with all this ice on the lake. Why did I have to come skating too?" Dash demanded trying to stand up. Freeze stuck his head out from the ice. "Because Mastress Aura said so." The icy being rumbled. Dash flattened his ears. "Well I want to go home!" He whined. Aura glided beside Dash. "Hey you two. Ned some help there Dash?" She asked. Dash glared at her. "No, I'm fine thank you." He climbed to his feet, and stood a moment. Then Dash fell flat onto his face again. "Stupid icy lake." He muttered. Aura picked him up in her jaws, which were grown out to resemble a white tigers. Her tail, also a white tiger's, swished out behind to balance her. The chimera skated to the edge of the lake and set Dash down.

"Stupid skating trip." He said as he laid his head on his paws for a nap. Kero floated over. "Hey Dash. Skating not you thing?" He asked. Dash growled. Kero floated off across the lake. Dash perked his ears as he heard a rustle from the bush beside him. A small pink head popped out and stared at Dash. The rest of the creature jumped out. Dash blinked. "Jump? Hey, long time no see." Dash greeted. Jump bounced a little. "Hey Dash! You still roaming free I see. Cause your not in a card or anything." Jump greeted happily. Dash shook his head.

"No, no, I was the starter card for our new mastress, Aura. I'm just allowed to roam around if I don't cause trouble." He said. Jump stiffened. "You're a captured! I don't want to be captured! I need to go! Buy Dash!" Jump said jumping back into the woods. Dash lifted his ears. "Wait Jump! Wait!" He called. Jump bounded forward anyway. "Oh no, Jump! Wait!" Dash bounded after Jump.

Dash was fast, but Jump could bounce and change direction easier. Jump bounced out of the hampering trees and brush. He bounded onto cold sand, and then onto the frozen iced lake. Jump bounded for the sky, but his feet slipped on the ice. He tried again, and again! Slip thunk, slip thunk, slip thunk! Aura turned to the slipping thunking noise. A small pink hairball was trying to move and falling on its face. Aura and Little skated over to the franticly kicking Jump. Kero dove out of the sky to hover over Jump. "Hey, it's the jump. Not exactly the smartest card in the book is he." Kero said. Jump finally got to its feet and found a position he could leap from. Aura placed a single heavy paw on his tail. Jump bounded up, and then down, as his tail couldn't stretch. Up down up down, like a paddleball. Jump kicked and bounced and leapt, but Aura kept her paw in place. "Eventually Jump slumped to the ground in exhaustion. Aura took out her staff. Jump kicked and took off while Aura had her paw on the staff. Aura slid after the scrambling hairball.

Dash trotted out of the trees. "Well, I better go help. Aura can't just pounce on him like a rabbit now."

Jump bounced from roof to roof. Aura ran panting after him. She stopped as the woods began to thin out. 'Not going to catch him this way." She thought. She thought for a minuet. "LITTLE! DASH! Come!" She ordered. Dash bounded into the area and Little came a few seconds later. Aura watched the receding hairball. " Little, can you try to shrink Jump to a manageable size so Dash and I can catch up?" Aura asked. Little nodded and floated after the escaping card.

Jump slowed down. "Good, I lost them. I hate being a card. I never get to do anything. Sure the elementals get to come out in use, but what about me? Staying locked up with my powers tapped and me trapped, I, hey, I rhymed." Jump said to himself. Jump slowed to a waddling walk. It's antenna ears twitched as he heard a soft ping. Jump turned around. Little floated in front of him. "Little? What are you doing outside in this weather? I thought you were a Warm day card." Jump said.

Little bounced in place before landing on jumps nose. Jump's eyes widened. Little landed on the roof beside him. "Aura caught me. Saved me actually. I almost got eaten by this huge spider and she fought it off me." She said. Jump twitched his tail. "And now you've been let out to catch me! I don't want to be a card again!" He bounced off along the roof. Little followed behind with ease.

"Come on. The only time she makes you return to your power confine is when she needs to sign it or your being bad or she's going somewhere and you need to come." Little said. Jump looked over at her and bounced faster while screaming. "Ahhh! She's going to make me a card again! Ahhhh!" Little sighed. Jump was convinced he was right, and nothing was going to change his mind now.

Aura and Dash ran along the streets. Little jumped down to hover over them. "Hey you two. Jump has it stuck in his head you're going to keep him as a card forever. But I got him shrunk." Little reported. Aura followed Little to the place where a teeny tiny Jump was bouncing away at top speed. About three feet a second. A bit of a jog. Aura put her palm in front of the frantic card.

"Okay, I got him, turn him back." She commanded. Little touched him and he grew back to his normal and audible size. "NOOO! I DON'T WANNA BE A CARD! I DON'T WANNA BE CAPTURED! I WANT TO BE FREE TO BOUNCE AROUND! No." Jump whined loudly. Aura put a paw over Jump's mouth. "Okay, I'm just going to sign the cared then you can be free to bounce around again if you stay out of trouble. Kay?" Jump wiggled harder.

"Mphhmph pmmm!" He screamed through Aura's paw. Aura held him in one hand while he threw his fit, and drew her staff with the other. "Release." The key became her staff. Blue handle; silver crescent moon and two small orbs around each point and one at the opposite tip. "Jump card, return to your power confine and

SHUT UP!" She growled. Jump returned to his card and Aura signed her name. Aura Ryo Chimera. She held the card up. "Jump, if you want to get out, just don't cause any trouble or get yourself seen. If you can handle that then com on out." She said in the card's language. Jump's card glowed and the plush toy like spirit jumped out. Kero flew over "HEY! Wait up!" He yelled. The others turned to see the little guardian hover to a stop. "What! Don't tell me I missed it!" Kero exclaimed. Jump grinned, though you couldn't tell through the fuzz. Jump raised a paw and waved. "Hello Keroberos!" He greeted. Aura picked up Dash and Jump. "Okay, let's get back to the lake. I think there were some raccoons around and I want some of our food too. The raccoons probably have other ideas though." She said. She plucked up Little in her tail and Kero sat on her head. The group walked back to the lakeshore.

"Well, the food is just right. Come and get it." Aura called. The Little, Kero, Dash, and Freeze came to the shore. Aura tossed Freeze a piece and dished the meat out to the others. Aura looked at Jump who was bouncing after snow being blown around. "HEY Jump! You want any rabbit?" She called. Dash stiffened as Jump bounced around franticly. "Rabbit! I'm a rabbit! She's going to eat me! Ahhh!" Jump screamed bouncing away. Dash lowered his ears. Freeze surfaced at the shore and looked at Aura. "Hey Aura, some advice, Jump has a wild and uncontrolled imagination. Watch what you say next time."


	7. Move

The move

Aura lay down on the hill with the tree. She had her ear buds in and listened to her main play list. She had just been lying there, staring at the sky, plugged in for about three hours now. The snow around her lay in disrupted piles as Jump and Dash tried to make a snow fox, and failed. Partly because they head kept falling off. "Ah! Jump! Don't land on the sculpture! For the seventeenth time, STOP IT!" Dash yelled as the little pink head popped out of the pile of snow. Jump giggled. The other reason it wasn't done was Jump thought it funny to try and ride the unfinished sculpture.

Dash thought other wise. Dash yelped and bit Jumps antennae. "OWIE! Owowowowow! Jump howled as Dash let go. Aura's ears flicked annoyingly. "WHAT was THAT for? That hurt!" Jump yelled loudly. Aura turned the volume up. 'Let them sort it out.' She thought. She listened to the man with the golden gun for a while before the shouting became audible over her ipod again. She turned the volume up, but maximum wasn't enough.

"I don't want you sitting on the sculpture before it's finished!" Dash cried cuffing Jump. Jump dodged. "But I'm having so much fun!" He whined. Aura growled. "That's because you're an idiot that keeps ruining MINE! Dash screamed. "WELL YOU KNOW WHAT? You're JUST A-"

"OI! SHUT IT YOU TWO! I CAN'T HEAR MY MUSIC EVEN AT FULL! So just shut you traps now or I'll seal the pair of you to your confines and throw you in the lake till thaw!" She threatened. The two cards both froze in mid shout. Aura lay back into the grass and turned the volume back to a comfortable level. 'That's better.'

Jump trembled a moment before hopping away at top speed. Dash resumed his sculpting. "Thanks." He muttered. Aura raised a paw in the air nonchalantly. "No prob. Glad to help." She said.

Jump hopped thought the woods. The trees whipped past as he bounded to the lake. Jump skidded to a stop at the edge. "Freeze? You there?" Jump yelled at the water. The icy fishlike head broke the surface of the ice. "Yes Jump? What's wrong this time?" He asked. Jump skidded onto the lake and sat down. "Aura said if I didn't be quiet she would turn me back to a card and leave me in the river till spring!" He whined. Freeze sighed. "Jump, I'm pretty sure she wasn't serious. She knew you would get scared, bounce off and leave her in peace. I doubt our mastress would do that to you." He explained. Jump slumped to his belly with his antenna laid back. " That was mean." He grumbled.

Dash patted a paw on his snow foxes last ear. "There, done at last." Dash beamed. The wind blew and he shivered. "Hey, Aura, can you toss me my scarf? I didn't want it to get caught in the sculpture so I left it over there." He shouted. Auras paw groped around lazily, eventually settling on a fuzzy woolen red and lavender scarf. She tossed it to the card. It sailed through the air and Dash reached out to catch it. The scarf grew a pair of wings for a moment and disappeared. Dash blinked. The scarf was up a tree suddenly. "Huh?" He wondered.

"Uh, Aura, my scarf just vanished in mid air. Then it reappeared in your tree. Can you get Kero to see if it's another star card?" Dash asked. Aura Got up lazily and stretched. "You get him, your faster, I'll try to get your scarf." Aura said. Dash's ears drooped, but he went of to find the guardian beast.

Auras bounded up the tree to the top branch, where Dash's scarf dangled. She reached out her paw to grab it. Her claws stretched out and the scarf suddenly sprouted tiny wings. The wings fluttered and the scarf reappeared at the base of the tree. She blinked at the scarf. The little cloth sat there. Aura sheathed her claws and fell to the base of the tree. The scarf was gone, and now sat onto of Dash's sculpture. Aura paced over and reached for the scarf. It flew away again.

"Kero! Aura thinks there's a card at her tree. And I think it took my scarf." Dash yelled to the window. Kero's face appeared and he opened the window. Kero flew out over the snow, following the running card. Dash and Kero climbed to the top of the hill. The scarf appeared just under Dash. Dash blinked a moment and Looked up at the quickly approaching shadow. "Eep." Dash squeaked. Aura landed on top of the poor creature with a muffled thump. The snow flew from the impact crater. Kero hovered over the spot. Aura clambered up from the crater in full white tiger mode. Her eyes searched a moment and landed on the scarf. She ran at it and it disappeared again. Aura grinned and laughed as she pounced on the scarf. It moved again. Dash staggered out of the frozen hole and stared as his master pounced after his scarf. Kero looked down at the squished fox- rabbit. "So, the move card huh?" He asked. Dash glared at the wings floating around the scarf.

Aura bounded after the mischievous little card. It rested atop a smooth and warm stone. Aura walked low to the ground. She wiggled closer, tensed up and suddenly leapt across the few feet from her and the scarf. Aura skidded to a stop just in time to miss the rock. Kero hovered next to her. " Aura!" He exclaimed. Aura leapt around startled and took the pose of a startled house cat, complete with a bushy tail. She relaxed as she recognized Kero. "Gee, what was that for?" She asked. Kero ignored the question and stared at the top of the tree where the move was resting. "Aura, you can't catch the move that way. You need to predict where it will appear and hold onto it. Not that senseless crashing around that comes natural to you." Kero explained. Aura scowled. "Well, Mr. Smarty bear, maybe you've forgotten, but I can't 'sense' my way out of a paper bag. How the heck am I going to catch this thing then?" She asked. Kero closed his eyes and crossed hi arms. "Hmm, I don't know, could you try to sense it at least? The Sakura book won't open for you unless you have SOME sort of magic powers." Kero said. Aura rolled her eyes, but sat down to focus. The rest of the world faded away.

She felt, she felt the environment around her, the snow and the grass, and a bit of magic. She turned her head to the source of the magic she very faintly sensed. She ran at it and pounced. She opened her eyes to see what she had caught.

"AURA! You moron! Catch Move, NOT ME!" Dash hollered at her. Aura wagged her tail a little as she clambered off the magical being. Kero floated over with his paw on his forehead. "Aura, The move, THE MOVE!" He shouted. Aura ginned sheepishly and sat down again.

The wind blew past her, ruffling her fur. She listened around the area, her earslocking onto the slightest noise, the smallest indication of a scuffle of shifting. She heard some of the grass behind her start to part, asif a force was crushing a few of the blades. She sensed a little bit of magic gthering behind her, growing slightly stronger. She tensed and opened her eyes. Suddenly she whipped around and pounced at the spot she had felt the force gathering, pouncing directly on the scarf containing Move. Move's wings flapped uselessly. Aura shifted her hind paw onto the scarf and drew her key. It became her staff as she recited the words. She tapped the scarf.

"Move card, return to your power confine, Move!" She said. The wing were sucked into a card and the card floated into Aura's paw. She pulled out her pen and scribbled her name onto the card. "Okay, if you can behave yourself, you can stay out, cause trouble and you stay sealed." She told the card. The card stayed still. Aura cocked her head and blinked. Kero flutered over and looked over at the move. "I guess some cards don't like coming out." He muttered. Aura shrugged and pocketed the card.


	8. Fire

The Little

The fiery

Aura walked into her room. Lock automatically sealed the door behind her. "Kero, I'm home, did you eat my rabbit jerky again?" she asked walking in. Kero wiggled out of her pillowcase. "Not today... do I get a reward?" He asked hopefully. Aura frowned and lowered her ears, but gave a sigh of amusement. "Yhea, if it'll keep you out of my stash, I'll give a little tribute now and then." She said as she handed him a small square of dried rabbit treat, which he chewed on happily. Aura plopped onto the bed next to him. "Just remember, this isn't an everyday thing, It's a when I feel like sharing thing." She told him sternly. Kero nodded before renewing his attack on the meat. Aura looked around the room. "Where's Dash?" She asked. Kero shrugged and tore into the last bit of meat.

Aura's ears perked as she heard footsteps coming up to her door. "Kero, act plush!" She hissed. Kero flew over to her pile of carnivores and froze. There was a knock on the door.

"Miss Chimera, would you open the door please, there's someone here, who wants to see you." The orphanage owner asked. Aura leaned looked at the ceiling. "Unlock, please." She whispered. The door clicked open. Aura opened it. Outside stood a woman in a fancy blue dress, who was smiling sweetly. Aura blinked. The orphanage owner walked to Aura. " Aura, this nice lady is thinking of adopting you. I brought her over so you two could get to know each other." She explained. Aura's jaw instinctively tightened. She looked at the richly dressed lady and blinked.

The woman smiled down.' No way. She'll probably try and stuff me in a dress. And sit up straight, small portions at the table, no after dark outings, no hunting, act sweet, and be just a fine young lady.' She thought. Aura just stood in the doorway silently, trying to muster up and air of 'cocky hostility', which the lady ignored. "Oh, by the way, my name is Ms. Ferguson." She said, "Are you going to invite me in?" She asked. Aura frowned but stepped aside. She walked over to her plush toy area and in a slight, near unnoticeable motion, covered Kero in the plush toys to hide him. Kero relaxed a little. Ms. Ferguson walked in and took a seat on the bed. "Hello Aura, I am thinking about adopting you, isn't that great?" She asked still smiling.

Aura leaned on the wall and a few of the toys. "No, it isn't." She answered bluntly. 'Yhea, and let the cards go nocturnal-unstoppable? Let the rabbits have a break? Make a whole new status to other pups? Get lost in some boring mansion? Not. A. Chance.' She thought. The woman's grin almost faltered a moment. "Why do you say that?" She responded. Aura leaned back on her pile without breaking eye contact, an idea picked up from the wolves. "I say that because I'm a warrior, not a pet. I'm a primal hunter, not a civilized young lady. I'm a wild beast, not a dress up doll. I'm a commander, not a minion. I hate stuffy dresses, makeup, jewelry, food I can't pronounce, and all those etiquette rules. I have hyper to enraged to calm to any other mood in a second personality. I don't listen to anyone who hasn't gained respect through a show of strength or skill. I get into fights quick and happy, and I am perfectly content where I am." She said with a steely tone.

The woman became stern. "I am set on adopting a stubborn child like you, and turning you into a fine young lady. I want to turn trash into treasure." She said. Kero could see through the gaps in the toys as Aura's shoulders went stiff and rigid. Her eyes narrowed and behind her, the tip of her tail bushed out, ready to fight. A tiger like growl flowed into her normally calm voice and her eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. "What did you say?" She ground out barring her slightly longer fangs. The woman glowered at the sub-consciously morphing chimera. "I said I plan to turn trash like you into a fine young civilized human being." Ms. Ferguson said stiffly. Aura bolted to her feet as her already sharp nails narrowed and curled into a tigers deadly meat hooks. Her eyes gained a tinge of red as she stared Ms. Ferguson straight in the eyes.

She towered over her, her fur sprouting slowly down her spine, and tiger muscles piling on. "Do not EVER call me trash, stupid purebred." She snarled. Her fangs were visibly longer now as a snout emerged. Her human ears began to sink into her skull as her furry ones rose from their laid flat position. Ms. Ferguson stood up too, to insulted to yet notice the enraged transformation. She stuck up her nose and walked out. "This isn't over, I am going to adopt and CIVILIZE you." She said storming out of the room.

'Wow, Aura is so angry, it's as if the whole room is heating up.' Kero thought as he lowered himself farther into the toys away from his scary master to be. She didn't hold back anymore and thudded to the floor in full white tiger. She snarled in the cards language to herself, pacing the floor. Lock automatically sealed the room for safety of both Aura, and whoever was fool enough to come into the room. Aura was almost glowing with rage.

"Call me trash, me, one of, if not the, greatest made creature ever made! Made by the finest alchemist anyone ever saw, and she calls me TRASH! She says that again and I'll show her how easily this 'trash' can rip her to little bloody shreds of meat!" She all but roared. The room temperature rose as she paced, and kept rising. It began to get uncomfortable when Kero gathered the courage to crawl out of the pile of toys and approach the ranting beast. He lowered his ears and hesitantly approached. "Uh Aura, does it feel a little bit, uh, warm in here?" He asked. Aura's narrowed eyes locked on the small beast. She stopped pacing a moment. She blinked. Her eyes began to clear back to human. She demorphed into her hybrid form and stiffened. "It is to hot in here, Much too hot." She muttered. She sniffed the air. "And the furnace leaves that nasty stale smell in the air. I think it may be a card, sensing anything Kero?" She asked. Kero concentrated a moment before nodding.

The vent along the side of the wall grew warmer, a faint light coming through. Soon, a fiery looking harpy floated in the room. She stared down at the hybrid in front of her. Aura morphed out her claws slightly and fluffed up her tail. The harpy chuckled lightly, almost friendly. Kero floated up. "It's the Fiery!" Kero exclaimed. Aura rolled her eyes. "Gee, ya think?" She asked. Kero scowled at her. "Har har, this is a very dangerous card Aura." He explained. Aura nodded. She rolled her shoulders to loosen them up.

"Okie doky, fiery, here's how it goes, I catch you, you sty in the card while I sign it, you come out and can roam around if you don't get seen or cause havoc. How's that sound?" She asked. Fire laughed. "You speak the language of the cards! You are the first master to do this, before we had to use the mimicking cards to communicate. And you say you will let me roam free if I'm not getting into trouble? Wow, I never saw anyone like that!" She laughed. Aura grinned. "Yhea, I'm a freak and darn proud of it." She said. Fiery nodded. "But, I can't use my powers AND lay low, so I can't accept that offer." She said. "If I can't burn some stuff, I can't have any fun. Sorry, otherwise you would have been a great master as first impressions go." She said. Aura held up a paw.

"Wait, Who said no burning? I said no getting seen or causing trouble. I meant not causing trouble I don't approve of. If you wanted to torch, say, oh, I don't know, maybe a gang that's picking on someone, just as a distraction to a limb or two gone, I mean, no objections here." She said. Fiery laughed aloud. "If you mean that, then I would love someone like you as a master. Sure, I'll go with it." She said. Aura nodded and the staff, card and signing and release happened once again. "Now, I have a problem I could use some help on. That lady, no way I'm going to get adopted by her, so, If you wanted to say, I don't know, burn up the adoption papers before anything can get signed, Just an idea." She hinted. Fiery grinned. "Ya know what, mastress, I think this is going to be the start of a long friendship."


	9. Fly

The Little

The fly

Aura sat at her desk copying the assignment in front of her. Kero sat curled around her shoulders acting stuffed. Aura, it seemed, was the only one working. Everyone else was trying to bug her by talking to her. Aura ignored them, focusing on her worksheets. 'Stupid substitute, Omit I can hardly think straight with all these idiot around. Why can't he control the class?' She thought to herself. She could feel small spikes of fur ripple down her back as a piece of chalk hit her right arm and fell into her lap.

"Hey, do you speak dragon?"

"Why don't you talk?"

"Dude, she's going to eat you."

Aura blinked. 'Has happened before. That thing would probably give me the omits for a week though if I ate it.' She thought to herself. Aura folded her last worksheet up and placed it back into the tray. The kids continued annoying her. She laid her head in her arms, pretending to rest, but moving Kero's ear next to her mouth and out of sight. "Kero, you know the cards as a guardian, is there a shut-up card?" She asked, no humor or sarcasm in her voice. Kero thought. "Well, probably silent. Makes you want to catch it eh?" He asked cutely. Aura grinned a little.

The bell finally rang and Aura walked out the door, clutching her binder like a shield. She got to her locker, took out her pack, and walked to the bus. Aura let her little guardian beast into it, and half way zipped it to let in air. She sat in her seat on the bus and laid her pack so it would be in the way of anyone wanting to sit next to her. Again. As the bus pulled to her stop, and she got off, she headed for her hill, not the orphanage.

Aura sighed in contentment as she lay back on the steep side of the hill, and pulled out her homework. "Box and whisker plots? Didn't I learn this last year?" She asked herself. Kero lay down beside her. Dash hopped out of his tree onto the patch of dirt beside her. She began to scribble out the graphs as the clouds rolled by. She paused as she saw a large bird, a white one circling the sky. "Why do we have to do homework on days like this with such nice breezes and nice cool temperatures?" She asked herself. She finished the last question and put her homework back into her pack, and stared at the bird above.

Kero muttered in his sleep next to her. She petted his nose and looked to Dash. Dash was tense and alert. "Dash? Something wrong?" She asked. Dash stared at the bird, growling. "That is way to big to be a normal bird." He said. Aura blinked and stared at the sky, as the great creature flew overhead. "Yhea, guess so. But it's not doing anything and I'm feeling kinda lazy right now." She said relaxing into the soft grass.

Dash blinked. "What if it's a card?" he asked Aura shrugged and closed her eyes. "You can chase it you want, I had a long day of ignoring morons, I need a nap.' She said closing her eyes. Dash glared and stalked into the woods, to Freezes Lake.

"Jump! You there jump?" He called. Jump sprung up from the bank of the ice pond. "HEY! What is it Dash?" Jump asked. Dash jerked his head. "Tell you as we go." He muttered. Jump bounced along next to Dash.

"And Master won't catch it unless it starts being bad?" Jump bounced along. "Yep. So here's what you need to do…" Dash said as they got to the edge of the woods.

Jump squatted low to the ground. He wiggled his hind legs, storing energy, and estimated the distance between him and prey. He sank lower, and sprung! "Cannonball!" He yelled, landing on Aura's stomach with the force of a small train. "OOF!" Aura exclaimed, jarred out of her nap. Jump bounced off with a kick, bounced into, and off of, a bush down the hill, landing on Aura's head this time. " Come on! Gotta catch a card gotta catch a card!" Jump yelled, bouncing to the tree, and on Aura's shoulder. Aura scrambled away from his next bounce. "DAAAAASSHH!!" She hiss-yelled. Kero jolted awake and rubbed his eyes. Dash calmly stepped out of the brush. "Yeeess?" He asked innocently. Aura growled and began morphing to tiger. Jump, however, was not done using her as a trampoline and bounced on to her back with a happy squeak. Kero stiffened. "Up there! It's the fly card!" He exclaimed pointing. Aura flexed her paws, wishing she had just enough time to give Dash a good scratching, but got up to her feet and looked at the bird above her.

She turned and sent a death glare at Dash. 'You are dead meat when I get back.' It seemed to say. Aura reached out and snagged Jump by the antennae as he hopped past. "Jump, Get me powers to get up onto the fly." She ordered. Jump caught on that she was not at all in the mood to have fun bouncing, or argue. Jump stopped bouncing in her grip and held still as she acquired his abilities for a moment. She wiggled her haunches back and forth, before springing up about a couple hundred feet. She used her paw to snag her claws into Fly's leg, tiny pinpricks to the creature. Aura climbed the leg, until she sat perched on Fly's back.

Aura grabbed her key and changed it into her moon staff. She tapped the Fly on the head with her staff. Fly turned to look at her passenger. "Huh? Who are you?" She asked. Aura held her staff and some of fly's feathers. "I'm Aura, the cardcaptor. Um, do you think you could land so I can seal and sign you without going Kersplat way down below?" She asked. Fly blinked. "Me? Land? I'm the FLY! I don't do landings." She said. Aura sighed. "Look, here's how I do it. I ask the card to turn back a moment so I can capture it, I may have to battle but eventually I capture the card, sign it, and let it go if it won't cause trouble." She explained. Fly snorted. "You expect me to believe that? I wasn't hatched yesterday you know."

Aura sighed and drew out her staff. "If I have to battle I will. I don't wan to, but I won't have to if you just fly low enough for me to fall safely. I do let the cards that want to roam around, See, that lake below? Freeze swims there happy as can be, and captured. Dash down there is running around happy but captured. And there's Little… who shouldn't be playing in all that rusty machinery I'll have to talk with her about that later." Aura said. Fly glared. She dipped a wing, causing her to do r mid-air roll. Aura grabbed the feathers and clung to them. She drew Fire's empty card out of her pocket. "Fire, get your butt back here now!" She yelled into the card. A few seconds later fire sat on the cover of her card. "Fire, can you singe some feathers so Fly will take a dive and I can capture her without falling down and going two dimensional?" She asked. Fire flew out of the card and began to singe the feathers of the great bird.

Fly screeched angrily, as she began to loose altitude.

Aura gripped the skin and feathers with her clawed feet and stood up about twenty feet from the ground. "Fly card, return to your power confine. Fly card!" she ordered tapping the back of the moon to the air. A card appeared and the smoldering bird was returned to a card. Aura landed with a grunt in her tree and jumped to the ground. Fly sat as a card next to her. Aura signed the card and let it out. Fly glared at her and shook her singed feathers. "Now look what you did! Might as well stay as a card! I can't fly like this!" She shouted. Aura crossed her arms and glared. "Yhea? Maybe you should've landed then. Excuse me for doing my job without wanting to fall to my death. And sorry I still let you out to heal. Silly me." She snarled. Fly glared at her, but turned to the woods, as she hobbled away. A wind ruffled Aura's fur as she turned to go home. "Kero, come on, let's go. I also have to give Little a lecture about safety again."


	10. Illusion

The Little

The Illusion

Aura sat at the top of a tree, alone, playing her Narnian flute. (From the movie) The two-pronged instrument made a low calming sound, in the highest tree in the forest, at about 80 feet tall, deep in the woods. Aura sat on one of the trees mighty limbs playing a soft sad melody into her flute. A breeze blew past her as the song continued. She sat there playing for about an hour before finishing the song. She smiled contentedly. So far it had been nice. No card in the past few days, no troubles with misbehaving cards, Kero was out skating over a mile away, and the breeze blew warm air to the player, while gently rocking the branch. The sky was dark with the promise of rain and maybe even a thunderstorm. She lay back against the trunk of her playing tree. She rested a paw on her knee and watched the clouds roll by peacefully. She smiled. 'And to think, before the star cards came up to give me adventure, I hadn't smiled since the plague claimed you all those years ago. I wonder if… if I'll smile still, after the cards are back.' She wondered. The warm breeze stroked her as she relaxed into the trunk. The gust gently shook the branch back and forth, calmingly. Aura's eyes drifted shut as she let the wind and the tree rock her to sleep. The setting sun sank under the hills as night approached.

Aura sat there, entranced in the swaying of nature. A light rain began to fall, and drizzled through the branches onto the chimera. She sighed contentedly and got up, slipping into a large hollow space in the trunk. The rain came down harder, beating a tapping rhythm onto the world outside. Aura curled up inside the trunk and closed her eyes, savoring the smell of the rain, the wet forest, and the scents on the wind. Her shoulders relaxed as the roll of thunder in the distance roared. She opened her eyes to watch the clouds.

But that's not what she saw.

"AAUUUGGHH!" She exclaimed as a furry dripping wet yellow face peered inches from her own.

"Hey! Why didn't you tell me that you weren't going to leave the window unlocked?!" Kero whined. Aura relaxed a bit and glared at the intruding hairball. "Uh, maybe 'cause I didn't KNOW?" She suggested rudely. She reached up a paw and pulled the little beast next to her in the little space. "Hey! Let go of me!" Kero exclaimed indignantly. Aura laid a massive tiger paw on his head, holding his jaw shut with its weight. "Shut up. I want to hear the storm." Aura muttered closing her eyes and laying her head on the floor. Kero tried to protest but couldn't move his jaws. He then tried slipping out from the paw, with his tail wiggling around franticly in the air, but he was stuck. Admitting defeat he lay limp in the chimeras grasp. The thunderstorm outside bellowed loudly, and lightning lit up the sky. Aura, now half asleep, slid her heavy paw off of Kero's head. Kero, deciding that letting her fall asleep was better than having her replace her massive paw on his head, lay still and listened to the storm outside. Another flash, and a few seconds later, the roll of thunder. Kero sat up worriedly. He stared out the opening until the next burst. And the thunder a couple seconds behind. Making up his mind he went over to his dozing friend, shaking her awake. She sat up and stared at Kero. "Muh, whazzit?" She grumbled. The rain beat relentlessly on the tree trunk as the wind blew past the entrance. "Aura, I think the storm's getting a bit to close. It might hit the tree if it gets much closer. I think we should head down away from the lightning and stuff before it strikes the tree." Kero advised. Aura sighed, getting up. "Probably right." She muttered as she slid onto the ranch outside. Kero floated after her into the blinding rain. Aura leapt deftly from branch to branch with her flute in tow, in her mouth. The two reached the bottom and set off for home. The smell of wet earth and the wet ground underneath killed all sense of urgency for the chimera. Kero flew underneath her, using his master as an umbrella.

Aura looked up and sighed contentedly again. She sat down in the middle of the path and lifted her snout to the air. Kero flew under a nearby tree about to remind her they needed to get going again. Aura's jaws morphed out fully and opened slightly. "Hoooowwllll" She howled to the sky. Kero cocked his head as Aura sat in the path howling. Her perked his ears as an answering howl sounded throughout the woodlands. Aura got up again and headed for the area she heard the wolves. Kero flew after her as the wind blew harder. "Aura! What are you doing! We don't have time to go play werewolf! The storms getting worse!" He shouted, hardly audible over the storm. Aura nodded. "I know, we also don't have enough time to get back, we can camp with the local pack, me and them are on good terms." She yelled. Kero faltered a moment. "SAY WHAT!" He screamed as Aura plodded forward. " What do you mean you and the wolves are on good terms? What are you talking about! Wolves are nasty! They'll eat you!" Kero yelled. Aura stopped. She bent her head to her chest so the she stared the guardian flying under her straight in the eye. "Okie Doky Kero, first, wolves are predators yes, but they don't eat the other pack members like me. And two, they Are. Not. Nasty. They're wild and smart animals, like ME!" She snarled, her mouth full of razor sharp meat shredders, and shoved right into her guardians face. Kero gulped, deciding to drop it.

The storm howled and roared all around as Aura stepped into a cave. Kero had been clinging to her foot so he didn't blow away, and now fluttered to the floor exhausted. Aura shook her self off, like a dog. Kero looked at the cave and instantly leapt high in the air. Aura chuckled. "Yhea, good idea, you probably look like a mouse to the rest of the pack. I see a ledge over there you could land." Kero fluttered over to a small jutting rock and landed. One white, six grey, two brown wolf heads followed him. Aura noted the white wolf, and walked over, twitching her nose. She greeted it with her legs stiff, ears forward tail held high and bristling slightly as she stared it down. The white wolf lay down with its ears back, lips drawn as it licked Aura's muzzle. "Well, well, a newcomer in the pack." She said. Kero stared at the white wolf. The other wolves came up and began too greet Aura, some licking her muzzle and some holding their heads high. Aura wagged her tail and greeted the wolves back. Kero peered down from the rock to watch this. "Eww. Wolf spit." He said. Aura looked up at him. "It's a sign of submission, from the lower wolves." She explained. She turned and licked a brown wolfs muzzle as well as the muzzle of one of the gray wolves. "Aura, oh that's gross, you don't know where those snouts have been." Kero complained. Aura lay on the cave floor under Kero's ledge. "Maybe not, but it can't be worse than eating the orphanage food right?" She asked him. Kero shrugged. "Okay, point taken but still, don't expect me to join in." He said lying down but keeping a close eye on the wolves just below him. The cave was nice and dry, and the wolves all slept in a cluster. Aura laid her head on her paws and looked out the entrance. Then she noticed a small light glowing outside. She perked up and stared at it. Some of the other wolves stared too. Another bolt of lightning flashed, and the light was replaced with another wolf. The wolf was with black, with white smudges on its nose. Aura's ears perked as she sniffed the air.

Most of the wolves began to growl.

Aura walked forward to the wolf. The wolf was huge, about six feet tall. Ramchal?" She asked the wolf. The wolf stood there, growling. Kero squinted at it. She flattened her ears and growled, along with the other wolves at the outsider in their territory. The wolf growled and stepped forward, little streams of foamy spit dangling from its mouth. It smelled of a rabid wolf. Ramchal growled and stepped forward closer. Kero squinted at the wolf. Something was off about it. Aura growled and got in a battle stance. "I thought the old pack drove you out, near dead, because you're diseased and killed the pups!" Aura growled at it. The wolf seemed confused, but resumed its approach. Aura snarled and lunged at the huge wolf, and it shook her off. Kero hovered next to Aura. "Aura, something seems weird about that wolf." Kero warned. Aura bristled. "You mean besides the fact that by all means that wolf should have bleed to death two years ago, or died from its disease, and is standing right here?" She asked. Kero blinked. "Wait! This thing is dead!?" He exclaimed. Aura nodded. Kero thought for a moment. "That magical feeling, a dead wolf, I think this is the work of the Illusion card." He said. Aura slapped her head. "D'arvit! I left my key back in the tree hollow!" She exclaimed. Kero tensed up. "You DID WHAT!?" He exploded turning around to face her. Aura grinned sheepishly. "Uh, whoops…"

"Yhea, whoops." Kero muttered. Aura turned to the other wolves. 'I'll draw this wolf away, if I can get to my tree, I can get rid of it.' She said in growls. The wolves growled in okay. She slunk to its side and bolted out the exit. The Illusion chased after her. The chase continued as the rain pounded. Aura approached the tree in tiger, and bolted up the trunk, using her tail like another paw to grasp branches. She flew up the tree, reached the hollow, grabbed the key and dropped to the floor below. She summoned the staff as she fell and grabbed one of the lowest branches with her tail. Righting herself, she climbed down the last few feet. "Illusion, return to your power confine, Illusion!" She shouted. The wolf was drawn into the card as it fluttered to the ground. Aura picked it up and pulled out her pen. As she walked back to the cave she explained the usual to the card. Illusion stayed in its card. 'Can't be good and out' It answered simply. Aura nodded, slipping it into her pocket. She waved to the wolves as she passed. "I think the storm is calm enough to make it home." She said to Kero. He nodded as they se off for the orphanage. "So Aura, what did you mean, the old pack'?" Kero asked as her fluttered beside her in the rain. Aura sighed. "Never mind." She said simply.


	11. Fight

The Little

The Fight

"NOOOOO!! I DON"T WANNA BATH!" Squealed a high-pitched voice. Jump thrashed around in Aura's paws, franticly clawing the air as she dangled him over a large tub of warm sudsy water. Aura held the panicky card in her clenched paws. "Well, maybe you shouldn't have rolled in that dumpster! What is wrong with you! A dumpster?" She said. Jump kicked and screamed to the trees franticly. "NOOOO! NOOO!" He cried as Aura thrust him into the water into the see through plastic tub. Kero flew down and helped to hold the struggling hairball in the tub as Aura began to scrub him clean of the coffee grounds, eggshells, food residue, and who knows what else. Jump screamed again as he kicked the water, splashing it all over the forest floor. Kero sighed as Aura began rinsing the puffball off. "I wish we had caught the bubble by now. Jump is not a big fan of water." He stated. Aura cringed, as she pulled out a wad of human hair, likely from the thrash can owner's brush. "Gee, no kidding Einstein, you think!" She exclaimed. She finished rinsing off the card and pulled him out of the water. Jump, now wet, looked about the size of a small beach ball now. His long thick fur dripped water onto the forest floor. Jump hissed. Aura set him on the ground, where he promptly hopped off to find a toasty, warm, sunny spot to dry. Kero laughed hysterically at Jump's expression. Aura grabbed him by the puff on his tail. "Don't laugh, you have so much food spilled on you it looks like a dinner table, so you're next." She said. Kero yelped and beat the air helplessly with his wings, but was promptly submerged in the warm suds.

Dash looked up as Jump jumped into the clearing, a dripping wet ball of hair, half his size with his fur flattened by water. "Whoa, what happened to you?" Dash asked. Jump hissed and hopped onto a warm stone in the sunlight. Dash stifled his chuckles and walked over. "I told you, didn't I. I said Aura would not like it all that much if you played in that person's trash, and judging by the looks of it, I would say I was right eh?" Dash gloated. Jump hissed again and flicked his tail, hitting Dash on the nose. "Okay, okay, grouchy, I'm leaving." Dash wandered into the woods rubbing his nose.

"Stupid little hairball, not my fault I'm right and have any common sense. Ouch, what the heck made Reed put that stone hard topper on his tail anyway?" He grumbled. Dash stiffened suddenly, ears erect and eyes opened wide. He scampered into the bushes at the sound of approaching footsteps. A pair of blue plastic-y boots walked past. Jump stiffened more, and once the boots were out of sight, took off with all the speed he was made with, to find his master. "

"Aw man, I smell awful now!" Kero whined as Aura rubbed shampoo into his fur. Aura plucked him out of the water by the scruff and dumped another bucket of non-soapy water on his head to rinse out the suds. Aura let go of him and he fluttered up into a tree, now beginning to sprout springtime leaf buds. Aura laughed and dumped out the bath water. Dash yelped and hopped away from the small tidal wave. "Aura, I think that there's a card loose in the woods." Dash said panting for breath. Kero hopped down. "You know which one?" Kero asked. Dash nodded. "I think so, it looks like the fight card to me." He explained. Aura shook her paws off. "A fight huh? That's all it does? No lasers of weapons I hope." She said. Dash shook his head. Kero floated down. "Nope, hand to hand combat. Now Dash, where was the fight?" Kero asked. Dash nodded back in the direction of the caves. "It's about an hours walk, a five minuet Dash, and it was coming over here when I saw it. I detoured so she wouldn't be warned." Dash gestured to the mountains. Aura petted him quickly before looking up. "Kero, toss me my key, will you? It's next branch over to your left." Aura said. She caught the key and promptly turned it to a staff. The three set off. Aura kept her ears perked up, swiveling to any sound they picked up.

There was a slight rustle in the tree above Aura. She whipped her head up and bounced out of the way of the fist aimed where she had just been a moment before. The fight card stood up and stared the morphing chimera in the eye. Aura growled and dropped to all fours. The card paused a moment, then rushed at her. Aura bounced to the side and dashed behind Fight. Fight whirled around to see Auras scampering straight up a tree. Fight folded her arms and scowled up at the chimera. Aura shrugged. "He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day." She responded. Fight sneered at her as she began to climb up the branches. Aura scampered farther up, and Fight followed. When Fight was about an inch away from grabbing Aura's tail, Aura let go of her branch and sprung off the trunk. She fell down, passing by Fight who tried unsuccessfully to grab her on the way down. Aura landed with a heavy thud on the forest floor. Fight shouted at her foe and leapt down after Aura. Aura sat under the tree and wiggled her haunches. Fight fell to the ground and Aura sprang, with her jaws open in a roar and claws out. Fight raised and arm to ward off the attack, but Aura's jaws clamped onto it.

"Ahhh!" Fight yelled as Aura began to claw at the arm. Fight shook her arm hard as she could, but this was a creature that was part crocodile, dog, wolf, and several other biting things. She didn't budge. Fight pounded Aura's skull with a fist, and Aura released her hold on the arm. Fight whirled to strike Aura's soft and vulnerable underside. Aura raised a hind foot and fell to the ground on her back, rolling to her feet. Fight switched targets and hit her hard between her shoulder blades. Aura rolled on her side and roared as a flame shot out of her mouth. Fight drew back away from the fire as Aura got to her feet again. She sprang at the card, who sidestepped and grabbed Aura's tail. Aura snapped at the hand, but her tail was too long to be reached by her jaws when pulled taut. She fell onto her back, and the weight shift caused the tail to slip away. Fight rushed at her and slammed a fist into her stomach. Aura yelped and scrambled to her feet. Fight launched a kick that caught her under the jaw. Aura used the force to whip her paw and clawed Fight's face.

Fight cringed and staggered back. Aura's mind raced for a trick to save herself. Thankfully, one that she read came to mind. She charged at Fight with a roar. Fight kicked at Aura, who ducked while running. Aura lunged for Fight's other leg, but Fight dodged, and countered with a stomp to Aura's head. The chimers staggered back. She grinned and shifted her gaze over Fight's shoulder, to something behind it. Aura stood up with an exited predatory grin on her face, teeth smeared with blood.

"Now Freeze!" She shouted. Fight whirled around to face Freeze.

Freeze swam under the ice in his lake contentedly.

Fight's eyes widened when she realized Freeze was nowhere around. 'A trick!' She thought whirling around just in time to see Aura dive at her and pin her to the ground. Aura's jaws opened wide and flew down to her opponent's throat. She clamped them shut around the windpipe. Fight twisted around trying to free herself, but Aura had years of experience with unwilling prey on her side. Fight's struggles began to lessen.

Soon Fight stopped struggling with Aura's jaws, mouth open to try and suck in breath. Aura slackened her jaws and Fight spluttered back to life. She put a heavy paw on Fight's back to prevent escape. "I won." She declared. She looked at Kero, who hovered to the side. Kero blinked. "Well, uh, that's never happened before." Kero stuttered. Aura grinned. "Do the usual opponents use cowardly fleeing tactics or dirty tricks?" she asked. Kero shook his head and Aura laughed. "That's probably why then." She muttered.

Aura picked up her staff from the edge of the clearing. Fight looked at the staff with fear and disgust written on her face. Aura could feel the free spirited trying not to quiver. Aura tapped "Fight card, I command you to return to your power confine. Fight!" She ordered. The Fight was sealed away as a card while Aura signed her name onto it.

Giving the usual option, Fight flew out of her card. She blinked and grinned at Aura before striding off into the woods to find a new opponent. Kero fluttered over to Aura. "Hey Aura, I've been meaning to ask you, How do you, no matter what form you're in, always have that pen handy. Aura grinned and chuckled. "Magic?" She suggested.


	12. Power

The Little

The power

Aura drummed her fingers on the table as she listened to her ipod. Kero snoozed contentedly in the windowsill. Aura finished her history and shut the book. She got up and stretched, yawning loudly. She walked over to the snoozing guardian. She bent over. "Kero, you still kinda awake?" she asked. Kero snored on, oblivious. Aura stroked his head and picked up paper and pen. 'Out to wander, might shop a bit' her note said. Aura slipped ten dollars in her pocket and set out for the heart of town. "Lock up." She said closing the door. A slight green glow shone on the door a moment before fading. She walked out the door into the brisk air, letting her fur sprout in a thin layer.

Aura peered in through the windows of several shops at the mall, not really thinking of buying much. A jewelry shop caught Aura's eye, but she shook her head. "Bad Aura, not near enough money. No." she told herself walking to the food court. She picked up a box of chicken nuggets and walked through the crowd of people. She popped the last nugget in her mouth and threw the box into a trashcan. She walked to the bookstore. 'Hey, the next Maximum Ride book is out!' She thought excitedly. She walked in and checked the price, then counted her cash. 'Just enough!' She thought, walking to the front counter.

Aura walked out of the store grinning. "Sale! Whoot! I still got about a buck left." She said as she walked to the entrance. She passed by a shop selling 50-cent cookies. She licked her lips and got two.

Kero roused himself sleepily from his nap. "Hmmm, that was a great nap! You finished your homework Aura?" He asked. Hearing no answer he looked around. "Aura, oh, hmmm… a note. Oh well… got the place to myself now, so what to do?" He pondered. Then it hit him. "There's nothing TO do around here." He muttered with a frown. He began to lazily buzz around the ceiling. Lock never obeyed him, only Aura, so it wouldn't let him out. He buzzed over the bed, the plush pile, the bookshelf, the table, and the clothing pile. Again, and again and again. Then as he passed the bookshelf he fluttered down onto the top shelf. "Hmm, wonder if there's anything good in here.' He said. He began reading the back summaries of the books. "Nah, nope, meh, maybe, hmm… maybe this one." He said as he began reading the book. His tail flicked back and forth and soon he became interested in the book he read.

'Moody with frustration, Artemis sent Juliet scurrying when she interrupted him with sandwiches, and moved-' Kero was jolted out of his reading when the doorknob rattled. "Stupid door, what's wrong with the omit's lock!" A male voice shouted. Kero stiffened as his leg twitched with recognition. It was that guy who tried to kill Aura the day this whole adventure started! Kero gulped as a chill ran down his spine. 'They won't get past lock, they won't get past lock' He repeated in his head. The inside of the room glowed an angry green as the knob rattled. Kero fluttered over to the Star book and touched Fly's blank card. 'Fly, come on, some thugs are trying to get into Aura's room, and I need something kinda normal looking to tell her to stay away." Kero thought to the card. The surface shimmered and Kero waited to hear the reply in his head. There was none. Kero frowned. 'If only Lock listened to me.' He thought. The thug outside growled and gave up on the door. Kero heard a knife flip open. His eyes flew open and his breathing quickened. His leg began to throb slightly at the sound.

Aura munched the last of her cookies. She walked through the woods, eyes closed, relying on scent and sound and feel to guide her down her familiar paths. She got to a young crooked sapling and dug a hole under it, putting the plastic bag and her book in it. Replacing the dirt, she continued. She heard a flutter in front of her, and saw Fly, in a smaller form, in front of her. Fly glared at her and tucked its still singed wings against her body. Aura looked at the bird. "Fly? I haven't seen you around. Your wing still scorched I take it?" she asked. Fly glared at her. "Kero just ordered me to tell you there's some thugs trying to break in, so don't go home." Fly said and turned around to hop off. Aura laid a paw on the card's shoulder. "Wait Fly, I've been wanting to find you so I can apologize about burning your wing. Now that I think about it, I could have used Little to make me small and light enough to withstand the fall, or Freeze to make cold air that can't be flown through, but not damage your wings. I'm sorry." She said letting her paw drop as she stared at the ground beside her. Fly sighed and glared. "But instead you burned up my feathers, and grounded me till next molt." She glared one last time before stalking off to the woods. Aura sighed and watched the bird leave. She kept going down the path, turning off to Freeze's lake. Freeze was swimming around happily in the frozen lake. Aura sat near the edge and placed a paw on the ice to alert the card to her presence. Freeze's head broke through the surface. Aura grinned half-heartedly at him. Freeze swam to the very edge of the lake.

"You sound a little sad mastress, is something wrong?" Freeze rumbled. Aura sighed. "Yhea, I singed- no burnt- Fly's feathers in her capture, now she's angry at me and apologizing didn't help." She said picking up a paw full of frozen sand. Freeze gave a deep rumbling laugh. "Do not worry, She has always been moody. She still considers you a friend, one that does not think her actions through maybe, but a friend nonetheless. She was always bad at showing it though. If she did not, you would never have seen her again without an order to appear." Freeze said. Aura cocked her head. "Really?" she asked. Freeze nodded. 'Yes. And apologizing will only help. If you really want her to show it, then flatter her." The two chuckled. Aura petted the fish as he sipped back into the ice.

'Oh, freeze, could you return to a card for a moment and make sure Lock knows to let Kero out. If he could get out, he likely wouldn't have asked fly to come. And see if you could tell Kero to bring the book, cards and key. Thank you!" She said as he returned to a card and floated over, glowing as he contacted the stubborn Lock card.

Kero perked his ears as lock began to talk to him. "Freeze says master says to let you out and tell you to bring the cards, book and key." Lock stated before unlocking the window. Kero grabbed the supplies and flew out into the sky with them.

A little pink girl walked through the woods smirking. "I can feel you, card captor, you're here, and so am I!" She exclaimed striding to the lake. She cleared the bushes and sa3w Aura relaxing in the cool sand around the lake. Freeze was next to her, and they appeared to be talking. "Haha! Talking your last talk! I'll crush you! You are no threat to me!" The girl gloated. A pair of yellow eyes watched from the bushes. A brown wolf, Mo'jun, raised its snout to the air. As the girl, from her tone of voice and scent, seemed to be ready to attack one of his pack. Mo'jun let out a howl to warn Aura. Aura's ears flew up as a warning came, an intruder, strange human, funny smell, going to attack her!" She rolled to her feet and spotted the girl on the other shore of the lake. The wolf had run of unharmed due to his speed. The card snarled and raced across the lake. She slid to a stop in front of Aura. "I am Power! I will destroy you, card captor!" She shouted racing at Aura. Aura turned around and sped through the woods as fast as she could without threat of tripping or stumbling. Power ran behind, throwing whatever her hands gripped, branches, rocks, anything. Aura ran fast to the east. The woods began to thin out here, and she picked up speed. Power threw a branch that hit her flank. She kept running though. She found herself coming to a great wall of rock, a large cliff, rising upward. 'Oh no!' She thought. She could hear Power closing the distance as exhaustion began to creep into her sprint.

Power threw fewer objects without convenient branches on the way. "Yes! Flee from my power weakling! You know you cannot defeat me! Flee! Flee!" Power screamed keeping pace with Aura easily. Aura ran on, and the cliff loomed in front of the two now. Power grinned. 'I have her now! I will crush her! Pathetic excuse for a card captor!' She thought. Aura kept running straight at the cliff, reaching the base of it, she sat down on her haunches then sprang up, finding foot and handholds with her large, dexterous paws. She flew up the cliff almost as fast as she ran across the ground. Power shrieked at this new trick and began tearing off stones and throwing them at Aura. She climbed franticly to the top of a small indented ledge and safety to rest. She reached a paw up to grab it, and a stone hit her at the base of her spine. She gave out a screech as her hind legs instantly slipped out from under her, causing her to tumble to the bottom of the cliff. She scrabbled for a paw hold, but could not grip any. She fell tumbling and scraping and banging on rocks eventually landing on her side, facing the triumphant power. She snarled at her and tried to get onto all four paws, but he hind legs didn't work very well. "You're pathetic! Try to run, but you can't get away. I knew I would catch you! I am the strongest card around! And now, your weakness means you will die." She said ripping a large stone off the cliff. Aura's front legs gave out and she fell in a limp exhausted heap on the ground. Power tossed the stone in her hand and drew her hand back to strike. Aura let a weak blast of flame at the card, but the exhaustion caused it to be little more than a puff. Fight smiled evilly and abandoned the rock. "You know what? I don't need a rock to kill you, I can do that with my bare hands." She gloated.

Aura snarled weakly and closed her eyes, lying limply on the ground. Fight raised a foot over Aura's skull. She was about to stomp down when a ball of yellow fur flew at the back of her head. She roared with anger and tore at Kero. Kero flew over to Aura and dropped the key onto her head. Aura opened an eye weakly and whimpered. She reached up a paw weakly and gripped the key, and summoned the staff. Kero was beating Powers face with his wings. Aura Crawled to her paws, staggering dangerously toward the card. Power ripped the tiny guardian off her face and squeezed his wings. Kero screamed, as the tiny bones in his wings were about to break. Aura stood up on her hind legs a moment and fell forward, swinging her staff to the card. "Power card returns to your power confine power!" She yelled as one sentence. Power yelled in fury as she was sucked back into her card. Aura collapsed to the ground on top of the card. Kero fluttered over to her. "Wow, you look like you were sent through a blender set to chop or something." Kero said. Aura whimpered. "Go to tree, get star shade, give strength to find safety." Aura ground out. Kero flew off to get it, and about twenty minuets later returned with the leaves. Aura munched them and staggered to her feet. The two crawled or hovered to a small cave in the cliff side. Aura climbed in, signed owner, and let her loose again. Power stood at the bottom of the cliff and looked at her master. Her eyes narrowed as she walked off to the woods. Aura felt her vision go fuzzy as she sank into unconsciousness, with Kero hovering protectively over her. She fought back the fuzz long enough to say thanks to him, and slipped under as Kero began to apply the bandages he brought back.


	13. Thunder

The Little

The Thunder

Aura and Kero sat at the lip of the cave. Aura was in hybrid form and covered in bandages and star shade leaves. The rain drizzled continually on the cave overhang. Aura stroked Kero, who was perched on a ledge waist high. Kero flew and perched on Aura's shoulder and twitched his tail. " I can't believe it! A card decides to activate now! You can't go after it Aura!" Kero said urgently. Aura sighed. "Yeah, so either it goes on a rampage destroying stuff, while I sit back, or I go after it weak, get killed, and it goes on a rampage destroying stuff." She growled as the lightning flashed in the distance. "Dang it, why did Power have to get that lucky shot in." She grumbled to herself. Kero looked at the storm worriedly. "Aura, we may have more problems than that, it seems as if this card's heading our way." He muttered. Aura nodded and sighed.

A bolt of lightning raced over the clouds in the sky, taking a moment here and there to attack some poor human below. Thunder laughed at the humans scurrying away, as if they could escape! Thunder turned back to the mountain in the distance. "The place where the captor hides." He muttered to himself racing over.

Below the card, Power watched the sky. 'Thunder is loose.' She thought simply. Power grinned as it raced to the cliff.

Aura clutched her staff and watched as Thunder raced through the sky to the cliff. She pawed the empty cards nervously. "Kero, what would probably work best for this thing? I don't have much strength at the moment, and I assume that if I punch a creature made of electricity it will only get me hurt worse." She said. Kero shrugged. "I don't know! You're the card captor! Think of something!" He said, tension making him snap. Aura scowled as her ears went flat. She tugged his tail by the fuzzy little tuft on the end, and brought him facer to face with her. "All right fuzzy, A) I didn't ask for this job. B) I don't HAVE to do it if I don't want to. C) You were supposed to keep the cards from escaping in the first place, and must importantly, D) I'm much bigger than you are and also much madder, don't. Tell. Me. What. To. Do." She snarled. Kero gulped and nodded. 'I hate it when she gets scary like that.' He thought fluttering out of reach.

Thunder reached the entrance of the cave and flashed into his true form smirking. "Well, well, so this is going to be my new master? A weak little girl still beat up from her last 'capture'. You don't look tough at all." Thunder said laughing. Aura scowled. " This is being said by a creature that is named after thunder, a sound, but is actually supposed to be LIGHTNING, and apparently never learned the difference." Aura said. Thunder growled. "I did not name myself Thunder! I know the difference! I just got no say in naming!" Thunder whined in protest. Aura shrugged. "Isn't the first time I've seen the mistake." She muttered helpfully. Thunder snapped back into his serious mode. "But either way, I can and will fry you to a little crisp. I have you cornered, what'cha gonna' do now?" he taunted. Aura shrugged. "You mean besides the obvious?" she asked. Thunder quirked his head to the side. "The obvious?" He asked. Aura nodded. " The obvious, start swearing like a sailor and scream hopelessly for help." She said. Thunder let out a static laugh-bark at this. "A captor with a sense of humor! What a change!" he barked. "Too bad it didn't come with competence!" He chuckled. Aura's shoulders sagged as she put on her best disappointed look. "Aw come on, have you actually seen any of my fights? I managed to beat the fight all by myself. And I still survived power. I saved Little from a spider, doesn't that count as competence?" She asked. Thunder cocked his head. "You beat the Fight card? On your own? Maybe you're better than I thought." He said. Aura perked up. "So you'll let me live?" She asked hopefully. Thunder snorted. " No, I don't think so."

Fly sat in her little notch in a tree preening her new molted feathers into place. There were still a few blackened ones, but she was mostly white and new now, enough so to fly. She raised her wings into the air and flapped out of the tree, growing as she gained altitude. There was very little wind though, so altitude was hard to get. She skimmed the trees trying to get a good distance off the ground. A small light jumped onto Fly. Fly gave up on flying today and shrunk to ground size. 'Hey, wait a minuet!' she thought. She kept shrinking. She was the size of a cat when she saw the little spark on her. "Little! What was that for?" she demanded, cat sized. Little looked at the mountain a way away. "Aura, master, she's in deep trouble, I can't get there fast enough on my own, could you give me a lift?" She asked. Fly sighed but nodded, growing to the size of a human and flying to the cliffs.

"Aww… come on, why do you want to kill me anyway? What have I ever done to you?" Aura whined backed into the cave. Kero sat tensed on her shoulder, and stared at the slowly approaching card. "Well, haven't done anything I guess, but you would try to catch me." He said. Aura shrugged. "Well, I guess, but it's my jo- I let the cards roam free as long as they stay out of sight and don't cause much trouble." She grinned nervously. Thunder shook his head. "Nope, that don't cut it." He said. Aura scowled at the sky, as if it was the sky's fault she was trapped here. Thunder paced closer. He drew back a crackling paw, and aimed it at Aura. "Wait a minuet! You're doing it all wrong!" she scolded. Thunder blinked with a confused frown. "Huh? What do you mean I'm doing it all wrong?" He asked. Aura shook her hands. "The antagonist never just kills them like that, they always have to gloat about their plans and force the protagonist to watch in horror, then kill them off. It's all-wrong."

Kero and Thunder both had a blank expression on their faces. Aura sighed. "Don't you two ever read anything, or go to the movies. Both Kero and Thunder shook their heads no. Aura blinked. "Never, wow then you are missing out on a lot f cool stuff. Do you even watch TV?" She asked.

"Nope."

"Not really."

They answered. Aura sighed. "Well then, I just need to fix that then. Okay, first, what do you like more, fiction or fact?" she asked. Thunder and Kero thought. "Fiction." Kero answered. "I don't know." Said Thunder. Aura's jaw dropped. "You're that un-entertained!" She gaped. Thunder lowered its head. "Yeah, guess I am." He muttered. Aura tutted. "I need to fix that then. First, I need my laptop. It should be in my tree a few miles away." She said. Thunder narrowed his eyes suddenly. "Escape you mea, not likely. I'm not letting you out of the cave." He snarled. Aura scowled. "Darn, actually I hadn't thought of that till you mentioned it." She muttered. Thunder gaped. "And yet you still call yourself a card captor!" He said. Aura gave a smile-scowl. "Well, I don't get cornered very often you know." She said.

Fly and little landed on the edge of the cave. Little jumped to the ground, and sprang onto thunder unnoticed. She began to focus and Thunder began to shrink. Thunder let out a startled Yip as the ground drew closer to his snout. Aura leaned away from the wall now, and saw the minuscule beast. She plucked Little out of danger and crouched on all fours, trying to look Thunder in the eye. Thunder gave out squeaky howls of outrage and Aura looked at her staff. "Well, that was a big anticlimax." She muttered, drawing the staff. Thunder howled at Little from the floor. "Star card, return to your power confine, star card." Aura said tapping the air above Thunder. Thunder reverted to a card, and Aura signed her name.

Thunder emerged again so Little could unshrink him. Aura turned to the cave entrance and saw Fly sitting there. "Fly, thanks for flying Little over here." She said. Fly preened her wings, ignoring Aura. "Fast flying too, you really saved me there." She said. Fly looked up. "Whatever." She muttered as she turned to leave. Aura watched her fly off to the woods again. She turned to the grumpy thunder card. "By the way thunder, stalling and drawing out the protagonist's death and risking losing the chance to kill them is the main reason I yell at the TV." She said. Thunder scowled. "Well, let's find that laptop and show you some DVD's then." She said sliding down the cliff ledge.

Power growled as Aura slid down the cliff with Kero and Thunder at her side. "Sheer dumb luck." She hissed, turning her back and stalking off into the woods again.


	14. Time

The Little

The time

Aura's eyelid twitched as the movie played. It was the last hour of the day and she was hating it. They were doing a fairy tale unit in English it seemed. So now the class had to watch a horribly perky musical, and some of the idiots around her thought it would be fun to sing along, so they did. 'Why couldn't we have had a nice three page worksheet instead?' She wondered, grimacing as the song launched into yet another verse. 'A scarecrow singing about how he wished he had a brain, well, have mine, it'll numb this mental torture.' She thought. She looked at the clock. It showed about a minuet left till the bell. She reached under her desk and pulled out her stuff. The teacher, seeing the clock stopped the movie. The substitute walked to the front of the room. "The bell is about to ring, so have a good February 22nd. This is the only February 22nd of 2008 you will ever have, make it count." She said. Aura shot out of the room as the bell rang and wove through the crowded hallways. She turned her attention to Kero, who sat perched on her shoulder. He perched there humming that HORIBAL SONG. "Kero, if you want to keep all your limbs, you will shut up, and you will shut up NOW." She growled. Kero's humming abruptly stopped. Aura got her bag from her locker and trotted to the bus station. And then she trotted right past it. Kero perked up. "Hey, where you going? I thought that was your bus number." He said. Aura shrugged. "Need a break, need quiet, you can ride the bus home if you want." She said. Kero put a paw to Aura's cheek. "Aura, you just recovered, you need to get more rest you know." He said worriedly. Aura snorted. "Rest? I'm bored, I need walking time." She said. Kero sighed and lay back down on her shoulder.

Aura walked till she was at the edge of a lot of grassy yellow hills. "Hey, never been through here before! Wanna' check it out?" she asked. Kero shrugged. Aura walked over the rough ground. Soon she began to notice the scraps of wrappers, wood, and metal. "Hey Kero, do you smell that?" she asked as the breeze blew from her left. Kero took a whiff and gagged. "Uck, something smells horrible." He complained. Aura trotted off into the wind. She jumped over glass, and some now recognizable junk. A wrecked bike here, an old piece of fence there. Soon she rose to the top of a mountain of trash. A huge plain of garbage lay strewn about. Aura's tail went into over drive and wagged in the air happily. "Oh boy! Random building stuff!" she exclaimed pawing to piles and piles of debris. She picked out a few things, some metal washers, a pair of worn out socks, a broken game boy, an old clock, and a cabinet door. She piled the stuff into her arm and Kero hovered next to her. "What are you going to do with that anyway?" He asked. Aura shrugged. "Tinker with the game boy and clock, see if they work, use the washers as decorations, and the socks as emergency bedding." She answered. Kero floated around. "And the cabinet door?" he asked. Aura shrugged. "It's flat and square." She answered. Kero didn't see the logic, or the sense in trying to argue with her. The two walked out of the dump, Aura making Kero carry the socks and clock. Kero fluttered behind. "Hey Aura, this clock feels weird.' Kero said. Aura cocked an ear in his direction. "What do you mean?" She asked. Kero flew in front of her holding the clock up. "It feels magical, I think there's a card in it." He said. Aura sniffed the clock. "I don't smell anything." She muttered. Kero scowled. "That would be, because it's covered in smelly garbage." He explained. Aura grinned. "Smells great don't it!" She said. Kero sweat dropped.

Aura tapped the clock when she was back in her room. "So what card?" she asked. Kero shrugged. Jump peered into the face of the clock, giggling a bit as he made funny faces. Aura plucked him up and put him back on the pillow. "Jump, stop that, if you want to stay in that is." She said. Jump slouched as the wind howled outside, promising of rain soon. Aura turned the clock around. "Looks like a clock, it's just broken." She said. She grabbed a screwdriver and undid the back. She poked around into it. "Hey, this gear is unaligned, no wonder it's not working. If I can just pop it back into place… Augh! There we go!" she said. The clock ticked to life and began to glow. Aura took a step back. A card appeared, it looked like an old man with an hourglass. Kero floated over. "Hey, It's the time card! Aura, that hourglass can speed or slow or even reverse time! Seal it quickly!" Kero yelled. Aura fumbled in her pocket. "Whoopsie." She muttered. Kero stiffened. "Whoopsie what?" He asked. Aura grinned. "Dropped the key while I was digging in the dump." She laughed. Kero fell for a minuet, having momentarily forgotten to flap. Time looked at his clock, it showed midnight. He flipped his hourglass and Aura scowled. "Uh-oh." She muttered as the day reversed.

Aura ran through the dark woods. The sound of feet, many, many people, running after her, screaming. A howl, a scream, she ran. The people drew nearer, as Aura ran. A hand grabbed her tail, but suddenly her tail shrank, it grew stiff and furry, her paws grew coarse fur, and her snout pushed out. She ran faster, leaving the people behind. She ran with the other wolves, through forest, plains and a void. Then Aura noticed as the wolves faded, as did Aura's new wolf form. She suddenly found herself back in the woods, but woods she had never seen. Bamboo forest, a mist coated the ground. She walked on, her body moving without order. She walked into a clearing, the grass was wet under her paws, and she looked around. A lone statue stood in the clearing. It was a large stone cat, its head bowed and its large stone bat wings half folded around it. Two feathers on its tail, it sat. Aura felt consciousness pulling her back, and she woke up.

"Hey aura, wake up." Kero said. Aura lifted her head. "You remember, Time card?" he asked. Aura nodded. The alarm rang and she shut it off. She got up, dressed, and left for the bus. She and Kero walked up to the bus stop. And Aura walked right past it. "Hey, where you going?" Kero asked. Aura grinned. "Learn what I needed to yestertoday, no tests or homework, I'm catching time, and skipping today's horrible movie in favor of playing around with any cards that have free time." She explained. Kero frowned. "Aura, I don't think-" He began. Aura clomped her paw over his mouth. 'No, plushie scarves don't think, or talk." She said. Kero glared, knowing she was just not wanting to hear an argument. Aura noticed this and chuckled. "Yeah, I'm changing the subject." She said. The two headed in the direction of the dump.

Aura hopped over the junk, and soon came to the spot she found the clock yesterday. "Here we go," she lifted the clock out of the trash. "Let me redo the gear thingy, just a sedc- yep, got my key this time, all righty." She said. She got the clock working and Time reappeared. Aura turned her staff to him. "Okay, no more time changing got it." She said. Time began to tense, and looked at his hourglass. Aura shot out a paw and grabbed it from him. "No, no more time tampering." She raised her staff. "Time card, return to your power confine, Time!" She said. Time"

She signed time, and asked if he wanted out. Time emerged and floated off to the town. "Probably going to find a new clock." Kero said. Aura grinned. "Yeah, and now, I get the day off!" She said. She strode around the area. Pulling out her empty cards she looked at them. "Any of you want to, hmm… scavenger hunt?" she asked them. The cads all stayed empty, except Jump, who popped into the frame, and out again. "Oh wow! A dump! Am I aloud to play in here?" Jump asked, wagging his tail and bouncing with excitement. Aura grinned. "Long as you help find stuff!" She said. Kero floated off. "Yeah, I think I'll wait at the lake, and try to find a place to give you two a bath later." He muttered. Jump shot Aura a mischievous glance, and Aura grinned. "Dumpster fight!" they yelled. Aura threw yestertodays sock at Kero, and Jump threw a banana peel. Kero yelped and flew away at top speed, but too slow. "Ahhh! Why me?" He whined as he was dragged into the garbage throwing war. Jump and Aura cackled and raced around, hurling projectiles and ducking.


	15. Silent

The Little

The silent

Aura shuffled along with the rest of the humans down the hall. Her head throbbed and her eyes struggled to stay open. Kero was home today, reading his book. Aura stalked to her last hour and slid into her desk. Reading class, nice and quiet right? Wrong. Her face grew even further from a scowl to a slight curl of her lips, and into a snarl. The teacher was giving everyone a free day, but Aura was hating it. Kids still pestered her, and now they could shout it instead of whisper. Her head began to throb. 'Not a headache, not now.' She screeched in her mind. Three idiots singing some song she had never heard of. Two stupid males throwing paperclips and tiny paper wads at her, teacher calling names out, person behind her telling her to talk to him, teenagers chatting too loudly. She clutched her ears as her head throbbed. A girl appeared next to her, the one from the factory the day she started this adventure. Still transparent, and still only seen by Aura. "You have an annoying class too, I see." The figure said. Aura blinked. 'Gee Harriss, ya think?' She thought back. Harriss grinned sympathetically. 'Maybe worse than mine, but probably not. Where's Kero?' She thought back. 'At home.' Aura answered. Harriss disappeared.

As the bell rang, Aura stepped onto the bus. The sardine can on wheels roared down the busy street. Now as it finally stopped at the stop, and she got off, she realized something. 'Harris?' She asked in her head. The girl appeared next to her. 'Yes? What is it?' she asked, walking along side her. 'This is the first I've seen, well, not quite seeing, but that you've appeared, since the cards anyway.' Harriss shrugged. 'Yeah, guess so. I forgot to pop in.' She said. Aura half smirked. 'You mean I forgot to imagine you, because YOU are a figment of MY imagination, despite what you may think.' She answered. Harriss snorted and disappeared. Aura found herself in the woods now. The trees seemed to welcome her, as if the woodlands were her family. Raising her snout to the air, she let out a soft howl. A reply came, and she trotted to find her pack, her speed increasing.

The clouds floated past the sun now. A breeze pushed her forward. She let her tail slip out of its disguise as a belt. Small twigs crunching under foot, her tiger ears catching each one. Small animals raced away from her heaving chest. Her neck bent her head up, as she fell to the ground. Her nose smelled the wilderness around her. Mice, birds, and her packs old trail. Her muscles turned into liquid stone, strong and smooth. Her spine stretched out and she raced on.

The trees grew into a blur as she raced on her four paws to the hunting lands. The wind whipped past her snout and her tiger fur sprouted down her spine, enveloping into a thick coat. Her long tail streamed behind her as leaves flew in her wake. She slowed to a jog as the pack greeted her with the muzzle licks. The two brown stood at the head of the pack, as they ran down the hunter's trail. Aura followed the two brown, and two gray, as four grays, and the white loped behind. They leapt over a log, and slowed, as prey scent reached their noses. The deer stood grazing ahead.

Soon enough a kill had been made, and a bout of howling followed. Aura noticed a brown and a grey, tummy's bulging. "Pups." She growled. The wolves growled back happily. Aura's tail wagged. Soon after the feast of raw meat filled her belly, Aura trotted home. The woods began to grow dark, and the sounds of the creatures of the night began to make them known. Rustles parted before the predatory cat, as she plodded ahead, the half moon guided her down the path. She saw a small mouse run bravely past. She sniffed the path, and smelled a new scent. It told of a new creature, another predatory cat? But not quite. She couldn't identify it, as she walked down the path. She took a few steps forward, when the scent trail ceased. She backed up, but the scent was gone, as if it had been imagined.

Aura walked down the trail it should have taken. The dirt path ran into a small clearing. An old logger cabin stood in it, shabby and neglected, it stood silently. Aura crept to the entrance. The breeze ruffled her coat, she stepped inside. Her paws echoed on the old wooden floor. The walls let through the breeze, and a smell. Not of cat, but of card. She walked into an old bedroom. There, standing against the wall was a humanoid figure. She glared at aura as she let out a small gasp of surprise. The women held up a finger, to signify she should shut up. Aura walked to the card. She cocked her head to the side. She opened her mouth to speak, but the card glared. Aura drew her eye stripes together in concentration. She stood on her hind legs and scrawled out a message in the thick dust. 'A card?' it read. The card nodded. Aura drew another message. 'Name? Powers?'

'Silent. Noise stiffler' silent replied.

Aura nodded. 'Would have loved to have you around at school today then. Heck, any day actually'

'Why?'

'Idiots make it their life mission to never give me a moments peace and shut up. Test or free time, watched or not, they sing, talk, shout and all out drive me insaner'

'InsanER'

'I've always been kinda insane. Wow, running out of room on the wall.' The exchange ended as Aura fished around in her pocket, no in natural form. Her ears drooped, not finding one. Aura did, however, feel her key. She grew it and Silent cringed. Aura cocked her head to the side again. Silent drew a generic card on the wall. She motioned from the key to the card and held her ears. Aura nodded. 'Cards talk to much?' She scrawled. Silent nodded. Aura thought for a moment. 'Then, if you stay here, I could catch you later after the rest.' Silent nodded. Aura looked at the moonlit sky above, and strode out into the night.

The breeze tickled her nose, telling of stories of others, birds and their nests, mice of their foraging, and the path home. She trotted off into the calm cool night. As she approached the edge of the trees and walked onto her hill, she paused to look at the sky. The stars twinkled in it, and clouds drifted over the moon. Streetlights lined the city below. She walked to the tree on top of the hill and put a paw to the bark. It was warm and rough to the touch. She smiled and continued on her way. 'I wish you were her to see me now, my Ryo, I wish you could be proud of how I've looked after myself all these years.' She thought. A breeze tickled her ears.

Aura leapt onto her windowsill. She tapped the glass and Kero rushed to the latch. Lock allowed her in and Kero shut the window. "AURA! Where on Earth have you been! it's almost midnight! What happened huh?" He asked her. Aura smiled. "Needed some quiet time. Kero fumed. "Well you could have told me! You shouldn't be out alone at night!" He scolded. Aura ruffled his head. "Sir yes sir!" She said with a mock salute. Kero grinned despite his intentions. Aura hopped onto her mattress and curled up. Kero flicked out the lights and wiggled into her pillowcase. "Goodnight Aura." He muttered. "Night Kero." She replied.

'BZZZZZ BZZZZZ BZZZZZ' Aura flapped her paw out from under the covers, groping for her alarm clock. Kero hovered in front of her. "Rise and shine!" He said flicking on the lights. Aura's hand shut off the shrill beeping and retracted into the covers. "Aura, need I remind you that today is a school day. If you wanted to feel rested you shouldn't have stayed out so late last night." He taunted. Aura growled and flopped out of bed onto the floor. She growled and flicked off the light switch stubbornly. Kero waited till she was back under the toasty covers and nice and warm, before he flicked the lights back on and flew off with the blanket. Aura hissed, but finally got up. "Kero, if I wasn't so tired right now, I'd torch you to a cinder." She snarled.

'Another day as usual, eh?' Harriss asked. Aura scowled. 'Oh, you shut up too.' She thought as she stalked out the door. Kero floated onto her shoulder. "Another day has begun, and I'm never letting you go home after school without me again. I didn't get any dinner, and you smelled like you gorged yourself on something tasty. Not to mention Jump started weaving horrible tales to explain your lateness. On top of how lock wouldn't let me out…" Kero jabbered as she walked down the street. Aura let out a groan.


	16. Glow

The Little

The glow

Aura plodded along with the rest of the children. Today was an outing to the zoo. Aura leaned her head closer to Kero's. "What sound does a can of sardines make? I'd moo, but that's too common an analogy." She whispered. Kero snuffled as he tried to smother a laugh. They walked into the zoo and aura looked at her sheet. She walked through, filled it out and stuffed it in her pack. "So Keroberos, where shall we hang out till it's time to go?" She asked. Kero grinned. "The food court?" He suggested. Aura grinned. "Sure, but I'm broke o we couldn't get anything. We would just sit around smelling all the delicious food we couldn't buy." She said. Kero lowered his ears. "Lion exhibit then?" Aura cocked her head. "Lions? Why do you say that?" She asked striding to the lion exhibit. Kero grinned, "My true form looks like a winged lion! It's even better though, it's so cool it makes everything else look pathetic." He basted. Aura snickered. "So it's like you're a fluffy white poodle or a big spooky wolf. I need to see it to believe it." She said. Kero frowned. "Catch wood and you will. Till then though, I'm stuck like this." He explained. Aura peered into the lion pit and grinned. Other kids, mainly the girls, made eww faces and squealed with fright. "All right! There're dismembering a cow carcass! This is making me much hungrier than the food court could!" Aura exclaimed licking her chops and attracting strange looks.

Aura perked her ears. Harriss stared at the lions below. "Kero does eventually look cool. In my world, his second master's journey with the cards is a show. He does have a cool true form, though the poodle wolf comparison is correct." She said Aura looked at Harriss. 'So what happens later on then?' She thought.

Harriss chuckled. "And ruin the surprise? If you knew everything I wouldn't be able to write your adventures for my world to read. It would be like when I was linked to Aurora." She said leaning on the railing. Aura scowled. "Traitor." She muttered aloud. Kero looked up. "Huh?" He wondered. Aura turned back to the ions. "Oh nothing. My imaginary friend won't tell me what sort of adventures are coming up for me." She growled in Card. Kero blinked. 'She still has imaginary friends?' he wondered. Harriss looked over at Aura. "Maybe you should look at the red pandas they're cute too." She disappeared. Aura walked to the directory. She walked over in the direction of the little animals.

They're adorable little creatures, aren't hey?" Aura asked. Kero nodded slightly. "Yeah I guess so. Aura, your powers haven't improved at all have they? Please tell me I'm not the only one that can sense the card around here!" He hissed. Aura grinned sheepishly. "Okay, but I get the feeing you'll figure it out if I tell you or not." She muttered. Kero sighed. "Aura, Please try to be serious here." Kero said.

Aura nodded. "So where is the card then?" She asked, Kero shrugged. In the panda cage I think." He said. Aura sighed. "So how do we get in then?" She asked Kero grinned. "I may just have an idea." He muttered.

Jump bounced happily up and down. "I get to go under cover?" He asked disbelievingly. Aura nodded. "Just get into the panda cage, draw the card somewhere private and get out of there, got it?" She asked. Jump bounced enthusiastically. "Got it master!" he said. He bounced out from behind the dumpster and hopped toward the red panda exhibit. Aura grabbed his tail and yanked him back. "Don't get yourself seen, like you just nearly did." She hissed. Jump tilted his head. "That's bad grammar.' He said. Aura growled and rolled her eyes, but let Jump loose. Jump hopped the fence into the exhibit and disappeared into the bamboo. Aura and Kero sat waiting a minute.

"Uh, card? Which card are you? Where are you?" Jump called out. He wandered through the maze of bamboo stalks. One little red panda came face to face with him. It chirped and scampered up a tree. Jump waved and continued calling for the mystery card. The trees blocked out much of the sunlight. Jump sighed. "Where is it? Kero said he felt it." He muttered gloomily. A tiny dot of glowing air fell onto his nose. Jump blinked. More dots fell around him, glowing eerily. Jump stiffened. "Um, oh, is it you Glow?" He asked. A small fairy like figure appeared. "Jump? Long time no see! What do you mean, Kero said he felt me? Did you get caught early again?" Glow asked. Jump nodded, scratching the back of his furry head. "Yeah but Aura, our new master, she's nice. She hardly ever forces me back to a card, only when I'm bad or she's going somewhere." He explained. Glow giggled. "So that's why you're doing favors for him. So how often do you get summoned?" She asked. Jump bounced around happily. "Hardly ever! And master lets me go digging in the trash for cool stuff with her! But then she makes me take a bath. But it's the best," Jump leaned closer and lowered his voice. "When she makes Kero dig too, then she and I get him dirty and he'll also need a bath!" He exclaimed cackling. Glow cackled too. "That's what he gets for all those years of tormenting you and saying you're stupid huh?" Glow laughed.

"Dang it, what the h happened to Jump?" Aura muttered again. It had been almost half an hour since jump had been sent in to lure the card out. Aura looked at the exhibit worriedly. "Where is he?" She muttered. "He's gotten distracted talking to Glow."

Aura whipped around and saw Harriss standing against the wall. "Huh? Distracted? And the card is Glow?" Aura asked aloud. Kero perked up and looked at Aura. "Hey, what makes you think it's glow? I don't even remember mentioning the glow card to you." Kero floated to eye level. "Harriss told me, how she knows I don't know, but that's what she says it is. Little Jump got distracted in his little chat room." She muttered. Harriss nodded and vanished. Aura stood up and grabbed Jumps empty card. "JUMP! No chat time! We need to leave in about 15 minuets or we'll get left at the zoo and if it's you fault I'm leaving you in one of the exhibits!" She hissed in card.

Jump jolted as he heard Aura shouting in his mind. "Glow, I need to help aura catch you now. She's a nice master, Will you let her catch her?" He asked. Glow hesitantly nodded. Following the hairball, She fluttered out of the exhibit behind the dumpster, were Aura waited. "Jump! Took you long enough! So is this Glow?" Aura asked. Jump nodded. Aura raised her staff and sealed Glow. " There we go, now you can just wander wherever you want if you can stay out of trouble now." She said slipping her pen back into her pocket. The little glowing fairy lie creature flew back to the panda exhibit. Jump hopped after her into the bamboo, and caused a ruckus from some of the exhibits occupants. Complains which both h mischievous cards ignored completely.

"Aura, the bus is getting ready to leave." Harriss said. Aura burst out from behind the dumpster and saw children filing into the tin cans on wheels. Aura rushed onto the bus, retracting her staff as she went. Kero flew to his common perch on her shoulder and froze up. She found an empty seat and sat on one half, backpack on the other half to prevent 'bus buddies' from sitting near her. Harris perched on the back of Aura's seat. 'Thanks for the help Harriss.' She thought. Harriss grinned. "Sure, no problem. Not like you couldn't have also walked though, right," she asked. Aura nodded. "So, are you going to warn me when something important is going to happen then, figment of my imagination?" she asked. Aura snickered. "I still say you're part of my mind that doesn't listen to me." She said. "But, you should duck, the idiot gangster is aiming to shoot a spit wad at you, one seat back on the edge, port side." She informed Aura grabbed her backpack and ducked. The wad hit the seat in front of her and Aura swung the heavy pack into the face of the idiot holding the straw. "Today's a good day, isn't it?" Harriss stated. Aura nodded. 'That it is, that it is.'


	17. Dream

The Dream

*** Note, this takes place between Create and Glow!****

Aura turned around, shuffling under the covers. She wiggled into a ball, stretched out into a fur pillow, and back again. Hissing quietly under her breath she jumped to the floor. Her tail lashed against the air angrily. She paced around in her room, white fur contrasting the dark enclosure. She leaned on her desk with her forepaws and stared at the clock. It was about midnight now. She thudded back onto the ground and began pacing. The wind beat a tattoo on the window. She snarled loudly before swiping her key from her bookshelf. She leapt out the window onto the tree. The half-moon shone onto her sleek fur as she slid out to the wilderness. She broke into a steady run. Her paws made a heavy rhythmic thud on the pavement. Her jaws shone with a slight wetness as she headed to the cliff region.

Her paws knocked small stones loose as she lumbered upward. Sniffing the ground and climbing, the breeze tugged at her fur. She looked up to the stars and raised her snout. "AwoooooOOOOOooooo" She howled to her pack. The warm night air took her howl from her mouth and no pack answered. She sniffed the air again and bounded up the slopes.

A small clattering caught her attention, and she turned her head. Her jaws opened with a growl. Her feline tail twitched eagerly. A small shape flitted past the corner of her eye. Her jaw gleamed with saliva as her red eyes locked onto the shape. She growled, her growl growing into a roar as she leapt at the small animal. It squealed as she pinned it to the stone with her claws. She snarled and grabbed the back of its neck with her jaws, ready to break her prey's spine.

"AURA!" It screamed. She froze, teeth tightly pressed against bone. Blood trickled from the wound. Her prey wiggled and her jaws tightened instinctively accompanied with a low hunting growl. "Aura, cool it! It's just me! Get your jaw out of my neck!" Kero shouted. Aura blinked a coupled times, and slowly released the guardian beast. "She growled a little and shook her head back and forth, trying to clear the primal fog from her humanoid mind. "Kero fluttered out of her reach. She licked the flecks of blood from her teeth and looked back up at Kero, who fluttered above rubbing his sore neck. "Gee, what the heck was that for? You could've killed me you know." He said. Aura looked back at the cool stone at her paws. "Well, that was kinda the point a few moments ago. Sorry, primal instinct comes with my twice a year insomnia attacks. Lucky you, being a small vulnerable prey looking beast." She grinned. Kero fluttered a little lower. "Why do you get insomnia twice a year?" He asked. Aura lay on the ground and began to smooth her fur. " I'm part werewolf. Because of that my primal instincts and conscious mind get blended together every once in a while. It also has to do with outside triggers. You came out of the book just after hibernation started, or you would have seen it then. The animal scurries for winter fat stores in the fall, and scampering to raise pups in the spring set. It sets off mental triggers and causes me to loose control during anything more than a crescent moon." She explained Kero fluttered down to sit on her shoulders. "Please tell me that doesn't mean I'm going to turn into a cat person because you used me as a chew toy." He groaned. Aura rubbed the back of her head. "Whoops." She said grinning. Kero looked ready to cry. "Whoa, whoa, Kero, I'm just kidding! Don't cry, or I'll bite you again." Se threatened. Kero glowered at her. She crawled to her feet and paced back home.

Aura hummed a soft slow tune to herself as they reached the crest of the hill Aura watched the sky from. The skinny tree near the top waved its branches in the wind. She proceeded down the hill to the pavement, marking the beginning of the cities edges. She walked past a small field of grass and paused at the roads edge. She sniffed it a few times. Kero floated a bit higher and stared at her. "Aura, home, remember?" He reminded her. Her eye stripes drew together in confusion. 'This smell. Where did it…?" She pondered aloud. She set off into the field of tall grasses. 'This smells like another cat of prey, but it just ends and disappears. What the f-' She wondered when Harriss appeared. "Hey, watch the thoughts, I need to keep the content rating down you know." She interrupted. Aura scowled. "Do you know what the scent is?' she asked. Harriss nodded. "Yep." Aura perked her ears. "Well, what is it?" she asked. Harriss grinned. "A plot twist that would ruin my story if I told you." She laughed. Aura snarled and swiped, but Harriss, not really there, wasn't swipe able, much to Aura's dismay. "But you may find out you don't sidestep soon." Harris pointed to Aura's side. Aura looked at the spot, and found herself looking to a forest of bamboo. She blinked and looked back to Kero and Harriss, but she was alone in the forest now. The mist swirled around he paws as she walked through the forest of bamboo sticks.

"What the" she asked herself. She shivered and came to a large clearing. Short grass waved in the breeze as the mist swirled about her paws. A large stone statue of a bat-winged cat stood in the center. About ten mounds of dirt were in neat rows, with stones atop each one. Aura waked closer. The graves had strange engravings in them, like letters but not English. Aura cocked her head and peered at them. "This writing, but it's from another dimension. Why is it here, from the world of the lost, to here?" She muttered in confusion. Several names were on the stones. Along with each name was a small string of runes. "Clow Reed, creator" Read the first one. " Yukito, the first false form." Read the next. " Toya, brother of the second captor." Aura read a few of the names and sat on her haunches confused. She looked around the gravesite and noticed another thing. "Wait, the statue, where did it go?" She pondered. She heard a grinding sound, and turned. A bur ran into the woods and disappeared. She tensed up and sniffed the wet air. Another blur raced around to flank her. She whirled and saw a mass of grey, and red eyes lunge and snap at her. She cringed, no time to escape.

She opened her eyes a slit and saw a blur. White, brown and grey fur streaked past her. Sounds of howling filled the air, and steel snapped shut. More howls, of pain rage and death. Aura looked around. Humans flooded around her, waving torches, her pack, burning and being ripped apart by traps! Blood everywhere! Aura screamed at the terrible sight. A memory flashed through her mind, a howl, the cave, her brother's egg, the gleeful shouting! She scrambled to her feet and bolted. A flare of fire a yellow streak, and shouts! So familiar the scream was! A roar and a flurry of wings, moonlight glinting off the blood! Slaughtered wolves and humans lay around the forest. Aura shuddered, rooted to the spot. Humans and wolves all around her. Strong jaws closing around her scruff. She whimpered and curled up into a small furry ball. A large paw on her side! Aura relaxed as the strong creature smoothed her fur.

The soothing paw ran over her shoulders. She relaxed and her whimpering grew quieter. His smell drifted around her.

One of human and wolf, the scent of one she knew was long dead. She relaxed, drifting into a daze. She stirred and opened her eyes. She was back in the field of tall grass. Kero patted her head worriedly. "Aura, come on, get up, you have a card to capture, get up." He said. Aura dragged herself to her paws and saw a shimmering butterfly lowing on the breeze. "The bug?" she asked. Kero nodded. "The dream card! Get it before it gets away!" He ordered. Aura summoned her staff and swung it around to face Dream. "Return to the guise you were meant to be, star card!" She shouted. The butterfly dissolved into a thin piece of paper, and Aura stared at the card puzzled. "Hey, who's she? This aint that butterfly!" she yelped. Kero fluttered down. "Yeah, never did figure out why dream was a butterfly and a humanoid on the card. Kero shrugged. Aura signed Dream and gave it the usual offer. Dream stayed as a card. Now that the catch was over Aura looked at the sky. The sun broke over the horizon. "Well, I can't make it to school now, might as well take a day of. I wonder what I can find to do today." She grinned at Kero. Kero yelped and flew out of range. Aura trotted back to the woods. "Oh yeah, I need to start that book I hid in the woods!" She exclaimed happily, jogging into the woods, Kero breathed a sigh of relief. He was safe, for a little while anyway.


	18. Create

The Create

The Create

Aura opened her eyes to the light flittering from her window. She rolled over in her blankets and shut them again. Kero floated over to her. "Hey, your awake. Think you could get Lock to let me out for a bit, it's boring in here." Aura sat up and climbed out of bed in her tiger form, rustling around on the floor for a clean 'uniform'. She found a pair of dark blue Capri's, and a light blue shirt with dark blue sleeves. " Never mind, I need to get up, it's almost 8 by now." She muttered slipping it on and then transforming to her humanoid form. She slid out of the window with Kero close behind. "So, what are we doing today?" He asked. Aura landed at the base of the tall tree. "I don't know, maybe just hand out at the mall, except I'm broke, so maybe just walking around." She said shrugging. Aura waked in the direction of the city as Kero perched on her shoulders.

Aura walked through the busy streets looking around. She slowed as a familiar scent tickled her nose. "Aura, what is it?" Kero asked. Aura walked on. "If my nose is correct, this is around the area I found you guys. We were touring a plastic factory, and it stinks to me, and after, I had six bucks to spend and found a bookstore. I bought the Sakura book and my adventure started. Wanna see the area?" She asked. Kero nodded. "Sure, not much else to do right?" He looked at the street ahead. Aura stopped in front of the store she bough the cards from. Kero cocked his head suddenly. "Hey aura, out of all the books in the store, why did you buy the pink one? I mean, judging by your book shelf, you would have bought fantasy and you said you don't like pink very much." Kero said. Aura grinned. "That's cause this particular book store only seemed to sell romance novels, the shop keeper is a fat jerk that yells at browsing customers, and I wanted a souvenir." She said. Kero shrugged. "So you just wanted to spend you money, even if it would have been a waste?" He asked. Aura scowled. "Well, The money was for souvenirs and because the schools around here are cheap and wouldn't hire the bus home, they gave us six dollars to spend, and I had to give the change back to the orphanage anyway."

"So you wanted to waste someone else's money then?" Kero frowned. Aura flicked his nose. "Well, if you have a problem with how I got the book and got you out, I could stuff you back in and give it back." She said. Kero blinked. "Okay, good point, but still." He muttered reluctantly. Aura walked past the store and out to the streets. " Now, what to do today, don't have any cash, but- Oh yeah, I need to dig up that book I stashed in the woods!" She remembered. Kero looked up. "You buried a book in the woods, why?" He asked. Aura grinned. "It was a hassle to carry around. I can start it today!" She headed to the woodlands.

Aura dug up the plastic bag and removed the book. Kero floated over and sniffed the bag. "Hey, I smell cookies, did you eat sweets without bringing me some?" He glared at Aura. "Yep, A couple of cookies." She answered. Kero exploded. "You had cookies! I have to eat that slop at the orphanage and you had cookies? You could have given me some if you had a couple of them!" He shouted. Aura instinctively whipped her head around morphed into a tiger snout and snarled at him. "Hey, fur ball, it's my food I was sharing at the orphanage, and my money to buy those cookies, if you want me to bring you some, bring in some cash once in a while." She growled. Kero was bristling now.

"You're just selfish!" He accused. "Maybe your ears don't work, I said it was my money and my food! You don't even NEED to eat!" She roared. Kero hissed and his tail bristled angrily. "Stupid selfish chimera!" He yelled. Aura's paw grabbed him around his middle none too gently. "I dare you to repeat that!" She roared fully morphed. Kero struggled against her paws. " Stupid selfish chimera! That's all you are! Stupid trash!" He screeched furiously. Aura grabbed his tail in her other paw and began to wrap it around Kero. "Hey, what do you think you're doing!" He yelled. Aura snarled and finished wrapping is tail around him, tying the tip into a knot around the rest. Kero wriggled around, vainly trying to untangle himself. Aura drew back her paw and aimed to the sky.

She hurled Kero, bound and unable to fly, into the center of the woods with a raspy roar. She thudded onto all fours again, fur bristling into fuzzy points. "I was put together better than you could ever have been." She snarled to herself. She turned around and paced deep into the woods. She paced angrily when she saw the cliffs ahead, and turned back.

"Ahhhhhh!" Kero yelled as he sailed through the air. He managed to pull one paw free and began trying to loosen his tail. He fell with a thud into a mess of branches. He untangled himself and climbed to the top of the twig pile. "Who knew that stupid chimera could throw so hard!" He muttered to himself looking around. He was about twenty feet in the air when her looked down, in a tree. He looked at the mass of twigs, and now he saw, feathers. He gulped and tried to quickly scramble out of the nest. A terrible screech filled his large ears and he whirled around to see a rave bigger than he was swooping at him. "Ack!" He yelled covering his head with his stubby paws. The furious bird pecked at him. He threw himself out of the nest and raced to the ground. The raven cawed at him angrily as He ran off. " Stupid feather brained pecking bird." Kero muttered to himself.

Kero toddled unsteadily through the woods, alert. When he was far enough from the raven, he fluttered into the sky, and safety. He looked down at the woods from the sky, but Aura was nowhere in sight.

Aura twitched her tail as she paced through the woods back home. "You know, Kero was a bit, well, no, a lot selfish there, and rude, but you probably shouldn't have thrown him into the woods like that." Harriss said walking alongside Aura. Aura growled and came to the edge of the woods, to her hill. She looked up and saw Fly circling the area. Aura walked to the crest of the hill and waved. Fly flew lower and nodded hello. Harriss looked at the sky. "I wonder what flying on your own wings would be like." She muttered. Aura shrugged and walked home.

Kero sailed through the sky, scanning the town for somewhere to rest. "Stupid mutt." He muttered, landing on the roof of an office building. His tail twitched angrily as he sat on the gritty concrete. He closed his eyes and floated there, scowling. He growled as a cloud flew over the sun. He peered up to glare at the cloud and froze. A hawk stared into his eyes, with a fierce predators stare. Kero froze and followed the hawk with his eyes. The bird screeched and dove for him, talons open. "Ah!" He screamed flying into overdrive. The hawk narrowly missed his tail, and he flew into a half open door to the rest of the building. He stopped at the door to an office panting with fright. "I miss my true form!" he whined to himself.

Aura trotted into her room and shut the door. "Dang, stupid flying Chihuahua- mouse." She muttered as lock sealed the room. She walked to her bookshelf and stuck the next book in, and was about to walk off, when something caught her attention. "What?" She asked aloud, pulling a book from the shelf that hadn't been there when she left. "No title, what is it?" she asked and opened it. Harriss peered at it. "Well, what do you know, lucky you." Aura looked up. "Huh? Why, what is it?" She asked. Harriss laughed. "It's valuable, and a secret." She said. Aura snarled. "One of these days I'm coming to your dimension and you are SO going to get shredded if you do that there." She said turning back to the book in her paws. Harriss shrugged. "Well, you say you'll come, but you haven't, so big deal." She reasoned. Aura growled and stared at the pages. "A write your own ending? Always wanted to see one of these." She muttered. Harriss chuckled. Quite an ending it will be though." She muttered. Aura perked her eras and glared. "Let me guess, not going to tell me what you mean by that." She said. Harriss nodded. "Oh, Zim's on, bye." She said Aura perked her ears. "But of course, vanishes without much of a hint, go figure." Aura said aloud reading the beginning.

Kero fluttered through the hallway, looking for a place to hide until it was dark. He spotted an open air vent and flew into it. He walked through the building quietly, on all fours. Coming to a warm breezy section, he lay down to sleep to nighttime.

Aura finished reading her new book and stretched. " Magic, and mythical beasts. Hmm, I do feel sorry for the poor, 'Evil beast' though. Just cause it's a hunter. I know, the ending I've always wanted to end a knight and dragon story!" She exclaimed. She scribbled in an improvised way to set the story I modern times as the knight and magician made the dragon fall asleep till modern times.

"Then, the dragon woke, and saw its home, now stone and steel." She said. "The dragon, no longer stone as it used to be, flew off the gargoyles perch it was placed on, dark olive color returning. It flew into an open window, searching for a cave to live in now." She wrote her story happily, and thought for a moment.

Kero stirred into conciseness, as a tiny scrabbling caught is ears. He looked up and saw a rat, as big as he was, staring in his face. "Augh!" He yelled jumping up. The rat hissed and drew back. Kero saw lots of tiny, beady eyes staring at him in the dark. He gulped. "Nice rats, go away, let me live another day." He whimpered backing into a clear passageway. The rats had other ideas and began advancing on him, teeth snapping and eyes hungry. Kero turned and fled down the airway. The rats pursued him, squeaking with hunger. Kero screeched to a halt at the dead end. 'So that's why the rats didn't get around on this side!' He thought bleakly, turning to face the rat pack. The grate beside him opened into an open office. Kero slammed against it hard, but at his size the screws didn't budge and the grate stayed firmly shut. A rat leapt at him.

Aura put the quill on the paper. "The dragon slid into the small crevice in its new 'cave.' It was in fact, a wide air vent, which the serpent like dragon slid fluidly through. It slid through the metal maze, to the noise it heard on the other end. The sounds of oblivious prey. 'Sheep, I hope. As long as the humans are gone.' It thought approaching the sounds.

Kero held up and arm, as if to shield himself from the rat. The rat fell onto him but snapped alert and looked down the vent. A green, sleek snout poked around the corner. White spiral eyes glared at the rodents. It lunged its lithe body squirming through the narrow passage, but the rats all escaped its jaws. It turned to Kero and hissed, opening its mouth wide.

"Jaws dripping with thick drool, it lunged at the small creature!" Aura wrote. The small vet rodent fled from the still clumsy dragon, and the dragon turned to chase it down." She wrote. Harriss looked a little surprised. "Perfect sync." She muttered. Aura turned. "Huh?" She asked.

The dragon stopped a moment as Auras quill did, and Kero raced past, flying wildly through the maze of vents. As the quill wrote again though, the dragon slid after him. Kero flew back to the rooftop and shoved past the loose grate into the sky, dragon right on his tail. The sky turned out to be a much better battleground for Kero. The dragon lost its ability to corner him, and flew back home to its 'cave'.

"The dragon munched on the bird it had caught, daggers of hunger easing slightly." She wrote. Harriss read over her shoulder. "So when do you get it to outmaneuver a knight in clunky armor and roast him in his heat absorbing metal into a roast?" She asked. Aura grinned. "Tomorrow. My paw isn't used to writing at that speed that long." She said closing the book. "Can you give the dragon a machine gun?" Harriss asked. Aura chuckled. "Well, It has thumbs, and intelligence, so…" She grinned.

Kero flew home, panting heavily and worn beyond belief. He landed in a dumpster and pawed for food. Eggshell, milk jug, candy wrapper, and a banana peel. Nothing edible for him. His stomach growled fiercely. He flew back in the air and scanned the area. A rabbit was eating some grass in the late, fading sunlight. Kero dived at it, but it saw his clumsy approach from the sky and ran into its hole. All the other rabbits fled below ground to. He sat on the ground and screeched in frustration. "DANG IT!" He screamed. His stomach growled fiercely. "Why am I this hungry? I like food, but I should be able to survive on Aura's magic alone, so why am I so hungry?" He asked himself. Then, realization dawned on him. "Aura's not even able to sense cards. Her magic must be really weak." He concluded. He fluttered back to the sky. " I'd kill for some food right now." He muttered. He looked down and saw the road leading to the orphanage a few miles away. Kero glared, but his stomach growled. "Well, I guess I'm wiling to swallow my pride if there's some food to wash it down." He said.

Aura looked up as she heard a timid tap on her window. She walked over to see Kero standing there, dirty, beat-up, and ears drooping. She folded her arms and scowled. Kero looked at the ground and dropped his arm, turning away at her glare. As soon as he turned around though, her scowl book into a wide grin of triumph. She put a paw on the latch and lock let it open for her. Kero turned around. "Look what the cat dragged in." She said. Kero's tail drooped to the ground. Aura plucked him up by the scruff and held him at eye level. "Judging by your smell and looks, you tried dumpster diving, and hunting. I guess it isn't so easy as it looks huh?" She smirked. Kero nodded hesitantly and closed the window, setting him on the desk. "But, don't think your sleeping in my pillowcase, r my plush toys. Not until you get cleaned, that is." She said snickering. Kero nodded. "Well, I'm going to get dinner now, be back soon." She closed the door and lock locked it up. "Well, well, you look rather small and helpless." Lock teased. Kero scowled. "I got chased a lot, okay?" He said pouting. Lock laughed and remained silent after that.

"I'm back. Today's meal, either it's either yellow taun-taun guts, or Mac and cheese." She said dishing Kero some. Kero nearly inhaled it. Aura dished him a few more noodles, wolfing the rest down herself. Kero flew back to the desk. "Aura, did you catch a card while I was out?" He asked. Aura shrugged. How would I know?" She asked. Kero looked around the room carefully. He saw the Create card on the shelf and pulled it out. His slimy paws slipped and the Create fell open to Auras story. Kero read it and frowned.

"So that's where that dragon came from." He growled. Aura looked over. "Huh?"

Kero pointed to the book. That's a card. The Create. Whatever you write comes to life." He said. Aura blinked. "Whoops." She said.

Aura finished sealing the card. Well, this could be a fun card to use when 'm in a bad mood!" She said. Kero blinked. "Huh?" He asked. Aura chuckled and stowed the card without another word.


	19. Change

The Arrow

The Change

Kero sat on Aura's bed reading the next in the book series she kept on the shelf. He read a little longer before closing the book with a sigh. "I wish there were some games I could play. There's nothing to do but read. Not much to read though, still. It's all chapter books, no comics." He complained to himself. A breeze blew in from the open window. "That's it, I'm going to Freeze's lake and I'm going to go skate for a while." He declared, closing the book and fluttering out of the room. Lock closed and locked the window, as always.

Kero yawned and lay back in the cool beach sand, about six feet away from the lakes edge. True, he had come to skate, but the sun was toasty and warm today, so he decided to just lie in it. Jump came up to him from the woods. "Nice day out today isn't it." He said. Kero nodded. "Oh yeah, warm and sunny, just my kind of weather!" He exclaimed happily.

Aura sat in her playing tree, Seventy feet in the air, and listened to her flute. An adventurous yet happy tune. It filled the tree, and the woods around with its music. A breeze blew through the flowering tree and blew a strange scent into her nose. She stopped playing to sniff the air. The scent that had been taunting her for a while now. Another predatory cat. She hopped down the tree and sniffed the wind. It was still as strong, and still from the same direction, but again, the smell had vanished. "What the?" She asked herself. Harriss shrugged. "Even I don't know what that smell means, and I'm the one imagining all this." She said. Aura turned. "No, you are part of my mind, because I'm NOT part of yours." She said. Harriss chuckled and disappeared.

She walked along the forest floor, sniffing around. Another scent tickled her nose. A smell that she was familiar with by now. The strange scent of a card. She followed her nose and saw a small blue lizard in a tree. It looked at her and opened its mouth, sending a long tongue out. The card licked Aura with its tongue. Aura tilted her head to se the card. "Blaaaaaahh…" It said. Aura blinked. "Uh, hi? What card are you?" she asked, holding out a paw politely to shake. The card shook her paw, stil using his tounge. Aura raised an eyebrow. "I Change!" said the card slowly.

"Well, err, interesting to meet you… I'm Aura." She said. Change gave a huuuuge yawn and slid his tongue back into his mouth. "Change hungry!" He declared. Aura nodded. "Well, that's too bad. But I have some food back at home if you-" Change leapt out of the tree with surprising speed and stuck his tongue on her face, before bolting into the woods. Aura stood there blankly a moment with a startled look on her face, before chasing after the card.

Kero turned as he heard rapid steps coming his way. He looked up just in time to see a tongue heading for his face. "Ack!" He said dodging it. Aura roared and landed on Change's tail. Kero dashed over to help. Jump poked change. "Change? Hey buddy! Long time no see! Or taste in your case!" He chuckled. Change stuck his tongue in Jumps face. Aura looked up.

"Long time no taste? Wha?" She asked. Kero sat down to explain. "Change is almost blind, so he uses his sense of taste to identify people. And to identify everything else. He's always getting it stuck somewhere." He said. Aura nodded. "Oh, okay."

Change wiggled loose and pounced on aura and Aura and Kero. "Ah!" They exclaimed as Change switched them. Aura, now in Kero's body stood on all fours. Change let out a large 'Blaah' sound and climbed into a tree. Jump looked up at Change, down at Aura, meaning Aura in Kero, and then at Kero, meaning Kero in Aura. "Hey, Change, you swapped them didn't you. He asked. Change nodded. "I make minion and his mast-y switch." He said sluggishly. Change looked down at the two.

Jump bounced into the tree, and rattled the branch, making Change fell onto the ground. Jump landed on top of Change, pinning him down. Aura looked at Kero. "Will the key still work for me?" She asked. Kero nodded. "It'll work for you alone." He said. Aura snarled and slapped her forehead with her small furry nub of a hand. "But the staff's bigger than I am now!" She shouted. Kero sat cross-legged on the ground. "Don't judge by my size, you should still be able to lift it, I could!" He boasted. Aura snarled but summoned the staff. She lifted it and tapped the air near Change. "Return to the guise you were meant to be, Star card!" She said, sealing him. She reached for her pen, but found it wasn't there. She looked up at Kero. "My pen please." She said, holding out her paw expectantly.

"Uhh, how do I find it?" Kero asked, reaching and grasping behind him, as Aura would, only without pulling out the pen. Aura sighed. "Go figure. I have a spare pen at home, let's go." She said. She flapped her wings experimentally, but didn't even feel lighter. She sighed and tried to climb to Kero's shoulder. "Ack!" she said, sliding down Kero's leg. "Doesn't this thing have claws?" she said, ears flattening. Kero shook his head. "No, I get by without." He responded. Jump hopped along beside them, as Kero placed Aura on his shoulder. Kero dropped to all fours, and walked to the orphanage. When they got there, Kero tapped the window. It stayed shut. Aura tapped, and Lock opened up. "Dang it! Still does that!" Kero shouted.

"So, how do we get back to normal then?" Aura asked, scowling at the Change card. More specifically, at the signature at the bottom. It was huge, and sloppy. "I hate not having thumbs. How the heck do you get anything done with these stubby arms?" she asked. Kero picked her up by the wings in his new fingers, and looked her in the eye. "They are not stubby." He said flatly. Aura scowled. "They are quite thick, short and STUBBY." She argued. Kero put her on the bed and sighed. "Unfortunately, we can't switch back for a whole day."

"Why don't you just morph all the way to human then? I can't walk around with a tiger snout after all." She explained. "Just concentrate on how I look as a human." Kero concentrated and soon his mouth was normal, his tail curled around the real belt, blending in with it, and his ears slid under thick blond hair. "That's much better!" He said. Aura looked at the wings stuck on her back. "So how do you wiggle these things?" She asked. Kero shrugged. "Instinct? What, cant figure even that out?" He teased. Aura moved her shoulder blades. "Instincts huh?" She went into a daze, as she did during her spring and fall nights, when she lost most self-control over her primal instincts to hunt. She dropped her eyes to half-mast and waked over to the window.

_THUNK!_Aura walked right into the sunny window. "Ouch. So much for the instinct guide." She said grumpily. Kero tried to suppress a laugh. "Wrong instinct. Feel for the flight one, not my power source." He instructed. Aura tried again, and her wings began to flutter. She opened her eyes and flapped her wings consciously. She twitched her tail. "So this thing, is it some sort of rudder, or just decoration?" she asked, pointing at the long appendage. Kero shrugged. "I don't know actually." He admitted. Aura walked to the edge of the desk and flapped her wings in the basic stroke she had seen explained on TV. Once. She hopped off the desk into the air, flapping as calmly as she could. She found herself floating effortlessly through the room. "Wait, I thought flying was supposed to take lots of energy." She said confused. Kero shook his head. "Not for me, I'm magic after all." He said. Aura nodded and flew around the room. When she passed the bookshelf, she got an idea.

"Hey, I wonder if that really works." She said to herself. She tried a turn, moving one wing faster than the other. It worked just like her book said it would. Kero perked up. "Hey, How'd you learn to turn like that? This is the first time you've flown. Right?" He asked. Aura hovered in the air happily. "Yeah, but one of my books says it would make fast smooth turn by flapping one wing faster!" She said. Kero nodded. "Never knew, what book?" He asked. Aura pointed to Maximum Ride.

Aura happily fluttered around the room for a while, practicing flight maneuvers she had read about. Hearing a scratching sound from the window, Kero looked up. Dash sat and mewed to open the heavy window. Kero tried to open it, but found lock still didn't listen to him. He grabbed Aura out of the air in mid-circle and turned her to Dash. "Lock still won't listen to me!" He whined. Aura sighed and opened the window. "Hey, Kero, how can I lift this at this size? I'm the size of a pup, a tiny little puppy." She gazed at her yellow paws. Kero shrugged. "I don't know, I don't care either. It just… does." He said. Aura shrugged and looked at the sky. "Kero, I'm going to try flying outside a bit, don't go for dinner till I'm back. The H.A.M.I. like to attack between my room and the mess hall." She said flapping off the window. Kero looked glum at the order, and was about to argue. "Look, I can fight well in my body, I'm used to it, how it works, and controlling my basic instincts. I don't want you going primal hunter just because my body caught a whiff of blood and saw an injured human." She floated of into the afternoon sky.

The sky proved to be a challenge for Aura, with the winds blowing her around, and her lack of experience with wings. "Whew, man, this is so fun!" she exclaimed aloud. She tucked her wings in tight against her back, and dropped like a stone to the forest below. She opened her wings at the last second, skimming the treetops. She looked up and gained altitude again, but then, saw a hawk. It stared at her like she was lunch. 'S' She thought. She dived below the tree level, hawk trailing behind her. She flapped and flapped, until the hawk decided it was too hard to catch her. She flew back to the orphanage, and tapped the window. It was sunset by now. She tapped the glass and Lock opened the window for her. She fluttered in. "Wow, I was wondering why you never flew around all day. You always have hawk trouble?" She asked sitting on her desk. She looked over and saw a tan beanbag there that hadn't been there before. Laying, sprawled on it, was Change. He opened his mouth and stuck his tongue on Aura's arm. "Blaaahhaahh." He greeted. She patted his head and flew over to Kero.

"Time for dinner then? Huh? Food? Huh? Huh?" Kero pestered. Aura curled over his shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, food food, I know." She said as Kero reached for the door. Aura bit his shoulder suddenly. "Kero, you got excited and now you've morphed my body into hybrid paws." She said. Kero morphed back into her human form. "How do you not morph all the time? Everything sets this big morphing problem off!" He complained. Aura shrugged practice. "But try not to fight, you don't know how to in my body." She said. Kero nodded and walked through the hall into the cafeteria. Getting a tray they waited in line for dinner. Grabbing a tray of mystery 'food', they walked back to Aura's room, luckily not getting into any trouble for once. Aura opened the door and closed it behind her. The two ate dinner quickly and they returned the tray, still without a fight. It was about bedtime now and Aura flew over to the bed.

"Hey, wait! I can't fit in the pillowcase, I get to sleep on the be!" Kero said. Aura looked up from her pillow and laid her ears flat against her skull. She stuck out her tongue and curled up for the night. Kero lifted the pillow and put it on the floor, crawling into bed. Aura floated up and whacked Kero's head with her pillow. He sat up. " HEY! Cut it out! I'm too big to sleep in the plush pile or the pillow case at the moment!" He said indignantly. Aura whacked his head again, and whacked as hard as she could. "MY bed!" She said beating his poor skull with the pillow. "Ahh! Fine! Jerk!" He grumbled, settling onto the floor. You won't be able to sleep anyway, not till my primal insomnia goes away." She said tucking herself under the thin covers. Kero huffed and curled up on the floor. "Stupid mutt." He muttered before closing his eyes. Aura was too smothered by the covers and her fluffy tail to hear though.

Aura woke up the next morning and stretched. Kero looked grumpy. "What's wrong?" she asked floating over to him. "I didn't get nay sleep last night and I'm hungry." He said, shooting a glare at the still sleeping Change. Kero dressed for the day as Aura curled over his shoulders. "Now Kero, don't talk to strangers, only teachers. If there's something you're doing that isn't usual for me at school I'll throttle you with this tail to let you know. Try to act like I do. If you do I won't kill you when you're back to normal." She said as he walked into the hall. "Gee, thanks." He said unthankfully.

Kero sat on the bus and looked out the window. Some off the kids were chatting, making the usual racket. Aura was working hard to keep her ears from swiveling around to hear the conversations. Kero was trying hard to keep out of them. When the bus finally rolled to as stop at school, Aura raised her head to Kero's ear. "Wait outside, less people." She whispered. Kero sat outside the school, waiting for the bell to start classes. It rang at last, and they filed in." Aura, where's your locker?" Kero asked. Aura gave small nudges and guided him to it. She whispered her combination to him and told him what to take for first period. Second third and fourth period went smoothly. Then at lunch, Kero was struggling not to shove the tray into his mouth. He was used to being able to hold out using the sun magic and a small bit of Aura's. Without though, he was starving. Aura tapped his shoulder, reminding him to share. "Pass a piece of ground bee up." She whispered. Kero gave her a chunk from the spaghetti, which was actually spaghetti. School food was much better because it was warm, and it wasn't half rotten.

Nothing happened at school, but on the way home, Kero walked like Aura would every day. Kero started growling in frustration over the rough ground. "Stupid clunky paws!"

The rest of the time till the 24 hours was uneventfully. Aura and Kero to ready to switch back. "All right, ready to get back into your old body?" Kero asked, knowing she was. Aura did, but decided to have some fun with him first.

I don't know, I kinda like not having to do anything all day. Flying, lounging around, getting free food, I'm not sure. Maybe we should just stay like this." She teased. Kero held her up by the tail. "No! I want my old body BACK!" He said firmly. Aura grinned. "Me too, I was just kidding. Mostly." She said. They changed back and headed home. Aura hopped up to the widow. Kero tried to open it. "Dan it! How doe lock always know it's me he's locking out?" Kero exclaimed.


	20. Sword

The sword

The sword

Aura ran through the afternoon woods with her pack. The lowest wolf, the new white one, had gotten the pack into a run around their territory. Aura had decided to join in with her pack, and they raced through the woods together. Kero had taken the weekend to try and repair an old TV set she and Jump found in the dump. She decided to spend some time with the pack this weekend though, and now they all ran together, panting as they raced though the trees. Now, as they came to a slower pace back at the cave, she became more aware of her surroundings. A large white bird landed on the cliff, out of reach of the wolves and stared at Aura. Aura waved to Fly before lying on the moist ground to rest. Kero was also there, and floated over to the chimera.

"Hey, Aura, Little says she thinks she knows what's broken, and how to fix it since she plays in TVs all the time, but she needs some wire." Kero said keeping one eye on the curios wolves below. "Do you have any money so we can get some?" Kero asked. Aura nodded. 'Be back soon. I gotta help my other pack get something.' She growled to the other wolves. They wagged their tails as she trotted off to her home to get money.

Little floated around Aura's room while she dug up a Five. "So, Little, what type of wire do you need?" She asked. Little floated over. "I'd know it if I saw it. Can I come?" She asked. Aura sighed. "Fine, just don't touch anything, got it?" She asked. Little nodded. The three walked into town to find the wire for the old TV.

"So, this what you need then?" Aura asked. Little nodded. Wire in her paw, Aura headed home. "Three bucks left. I saw a garage sale a way back. I'm going to browse around." She said.

"Cool." Aura held up a tiny Plastic sword. "I can use this as a bookmark!" She said checking the price tag. She paid a dollar for it and they walked home. Aura looked over the tiny plastic sword in her paws. "It's cool too. It'll make a cool bookmark for my books, what do you think?" She asked Kero as they took a shortcut through the woods to home.

"I think it feels like a star card." He said. Aura perked up. "So I can't use it as a bookmark?" She asked. Kero shook his head. "Not really. Sword would probably get ticked off and stop listening to you. It's a very temperamental card. So using it for a bookmark instead of its original purpose would probably be a bad idea." Kero said. Aura sighed. "Aw well, a good sword is a bit pricy, and I would like something I'm more used to fight with." She said fingering her key. Kero raised an eyebrow. "You've used swords before?" Aura nodded. "Before I could protect myself from humans, I learned to use swords to defend myself. Then I used to use them as a way to scare off threats, a nice pair of twin swords I kept on my back, one for each hand. Worked pretty well usually, but I had to learn to use them for people that can't be scared off so easily." She fingered the sleeping card.

Deep in Sword, something stirred. A call to awaked. She could feel another being, in the beings hand. She could feel Kerberos near. A chill ran don her hilt as she stirred at the thought of a fight. Aura looked down at the Sword in her hand. Kero floated nearby, as Sword began trying to control Aura's mind. "Kero, It's trying to control me." She said as her paw shook. Kero floated above. "Don't worry, Sword can't take over you, you're the card captor, you have magic. It should give a good resistance to Sword's… Aura?" Kero saw her eyes go red, as they dulled. She pointed Sword at Kero.

"Keroberos, you must not have realized that her magic is too weak to even protect her mind. Curios that you chose her to be candidate for our next master." Sword said through using Aura's mouth. "Sword let Aura go." Kero ordered. Sword laughed. "Why would I want to do that, Keroberos? Let such a nice host go free? I can easily get away with anything in this body." She gloated. Kero glared at Sword. Sword, through Aura, glared at Kero. "There's nothing you can do to get me to relinquish this one. Nice strong paws, and very little resistance to my control." Sword rattled on. She stopped talking and lunged at Kero. Sword sliced nothing but a little of Kero's fur from his tail tip. She swung around again, and Kero darted out of reach. She smirked triumphantly. "I'm free to do what I want, you can't change that! This host has a good grip, and is not going to be dropping me anytime soon." Sword turned to walk away. Kero ground his teeth in frustration. Sword was right, there was nothing he could do, he was just too small, and there was no other captor to help capture sword. Sword disappeared into the woods still cackling.

The dwindling sunlight shone through the trees as Sword walked deep into the edge of the woods. Grinning she stomped through the wild, practicing moving her new body. She smirked, twirling her sword part in her paw. She laughed to herself in delight. Tail twitching she did it again. An upright shape slid out from a tree beside her. The figure snuck up behind Sword, grinning.

"BLAAHH!" She screamed into Swords ear. Sword yelped and almost dropped herself, but regained her hold. She stabbed the figure in the heart, but Sword did nothing. "You can't kill me from your universe. I guess it's Aura's body that sees me, not her mind." Harriss said poking Swords forehead with a semi-transparent finger. Sword slashed again, but with no result. Harriss chuckled. "Like I said, won't work." Harriss looked behind her. "Well, that may help." She said to herself. Sword looked back with Aura's dulled eyes. A growl rumbled through the woods around her. The wolves Aura were running with less than two hours ago growled at Sword. Sword looked around confused.

"They must know you're not aura." Harriss said disappearing. Sword aimed herself at a gray wolf approaching her, then swung to another approaching brown, and back to a different grey. Some of the wolves began to bark. Sword glared and rushed at one. The white wolf, Do'vup dodged to the side and snapped at Swords arm. She drew back and slashed at another brown, Mo'jun yelped as she hit his neck. Sword snarled. Aura' mind was trying to regain control now. She made it hard to kill these stupid mutts.

Sword slashed at Dujwam, a male grey. The other wolves launched themselves at her. Sword shrieked as the pack tackled and bit Aura's arm. Sword let Aura's hand release her and the wolves stopped growling and got off Aura. Kero was floating above. 'Thank you, my pack. The weapon was controlling my mind.' She growled to them, wagging her cat like tail. She pulled out her staff. Sword lay there, helpless to flee or fight. Aura sealed her away.

Aura put her pen away and stuck Sword in her pocket. "Aura, what happened huh?" Kero asked floating over. Aura licked the bites on her arm. "Sword took over my mind, I have so many parts in it, and the werewolf thing, it's kinda weak at defending itself. I may even be a bit crazy. I'd be surprised if I wasn't," She said. "Sword took over and was going to attack the town, but Harriss distracted her long enough for the pack here to arrive. She was feeling so much pain from the bites, she decided to release me rather than keep getting bitten." She finished. Kero blinked. "I meant it to be a rhetorical question. You're the first to remember what happened when they were controlled." Kero said. Aura shrugged. "Oh well. Now, let's go help Little fix that TV."


	21. Voice

The Voice

The Voice

Aura ran through the woods, bamboo whipped past her face, and rustled as she shot past it. She panted for breath as the smell of death filled her nose. She ran, panting for breath through the bamboo forest. The mist grabbed at her paws as she thundered through it. Her eyes were wide, as she spotted a clearing ahead. She slowed to a jog, then a trot, and soon a walk. Gravestones lined the area, and in the middle was a statue of a stonecat, with bat wings folded halfway around itself. The two feathers on its tail rustled in the wind. It opened its eyes; crimson in the back, and sapphire blue irises, locked onto Aura. It lunged at her, jaws going for her thought. She rolled out of the way, but the cat fell on top of her, pinning her to the ground. She roared as the jaws headed for her neck.

Aura sat up in bed. Kero hovered above, as close as he dared get to his panicking roommate. Aura panted and retracted her claws after she realized it was a dream she had been fighting with. She slid out of bed and onto the floor with a frustrated growl. "Why did I have to have a nightmare on the weekend! I'm never going to get a nights rest now." She growled. 'And why doesn't it ever change or go away?' She thought to herself. Kero fluttered closer. "And your thrashing and growling wake me up every other night." He said. Aura opened the window and grabbed her key. "I'm going to go out for a bit. You can just try and get some sleep here, okay?" She asked, slipping out before he answered. She dropped into the grass and headed for her true home in the woods. The smell of leaves and dirt filled her mind as she walked to the cliff area. She hopped nimbly up the wall of stone. Settling on a ledge she sat on her haunches and lifted her nose to the air. The moon shone on her striped fur as the wind ruffled it.

" Little hawk flying in the darkest night, see the owl in the woodlands who is taking flight, over hills on the breeze to the stars of nights seas, see the little mouse running through the grass with ease."

She sang the old lullaby of her first pack. 'My first pack, it seems so long ago it happened.' She thought to herself. Her song continued for four more verses, before the last note dwindled away. She finished the old lullaby and climbed down the cliff, heading for nowhere in particular. She bent down as a familiar mysterious scent reached her nose. 'The predatory cat!' She thought trying to figure where the scent came from. She put her nose to the ground to find out. She jumped back as a streak of light flew over her head. She snarled, having lost the scent again. The voice returned to its true form and dove again with a silent battle cry. Aura jumped aside and roared. Voice turned quickly and grabbed Aura's neck from behind. She snarled, but the sound was ripped from her throat. She yelped, but no sound came out. Voice cackled, using Aura's cackle, and flew off through the trees Aura tried many more times to produce a sound, but voice had taken away that ability. Aura mouthed some choice words and ran back to her home.

Kero stirred as he felt a frantic shaking on his shoulder. He looked up at Aura who was shaking him. He looked up at her. "Wha izz it?" He asked drowsily. Aura pointed at her thought and tried to scream, to roar and make all sorts of noises. Kero sat up and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong, I don't get it." He said. Aura snarled at the sky and picked up an empty card. She pointed to the card. She pointed at her neck and tried to roar again. Kero frowned in thought. Aura sighed silently and grabbed the little guardian around the waist. She looked him in the eye and tried again. Kero shrugged. "I still don't get it." He said. Aura opened her mouth to the roof and silently howled in frustration. "Aura, why don't you tell Kero by writing it out?" Harriss asked, amused. Aura blinked. 'Yeah, why didn't I? Can you hear thought reply's Harriss?" She thought back. Harriss nodded. "Yep. Now grab your magic pen and some paper. It's the voice card by the way." She said. Aura nodded. "Thanks. Wait, how do you know what it's called?" She though suspiciously. Harriss laughed. "I know what all is going to happen, but telling you to early would totally ruin the plot." She said. Aura sighed to herself and wrote out the message, and held it to Kero's face. " Lost my voice to card. The Voice card?" Kero read aloud. Aura nodded. Kero looked confused. "How did you know it was the voice?" He asked. Aura scribbled down the reply, 'Harriss told me,' Kero scratched his head. "Harriss?? You mean the imaginary friend that helped with Glow?" He asked. Aura nodded. Kero scowled in thought a moment before shrugging. "Whatever. Now Voice just stole your voce, and hid. If we lure her back, you can catch her and your voice will return!" He said cheerily. Aura rolled her eyes. 'How exactly do we do that though?' She wrote. Kero's smile fell.

"Well, you haven't caught song yet, so that won't work, hmm… I have no idea." He said. Aura flopped onto her bed with a paw over her eyes. 'I can't believe this. Harriss, any ideas?' Aura asked. Harriss shrugged. "In my dimension the voice was caught with song, but like Kero said you don't have that card yet. Maybe you could just wit?" She suggested. Aura scowled. 'Wait for what?' She replied. Harriss grinned. "In this world the Kero on TV said voice only likes pretty voices, so she won't want yours for long, right?" Harriss laughed as Aura's paws twitched, as if ready to strangle the transparent figure. "But actually, that is the best I can think of." She concluded, fading away again. "Well, if we can't think of anything, we should both go back to sleep, it may help to have a fresh start in the morning." Kero suggested lying in the plush pile.

"Good morning!" Kero greeted Aura in the morning. Aura sat up and slid onto the floor. "Now why can't you get out of bed that easy on a school day?" He joked. Aura swiped at his tail, which he quickly drew away. Aura opened the window once she was dressed and trotted to the woods with Kero. "So, how should wee find Voice?" Harriss asked. Aura shrugged. 'Does voice have a scent?' She asked. Harriss shook her head. "Well, I've got lots of time to think. Some stupid school principal hole suspended me for defending myself from some who attacked me. Excuse me for not wanting to look like ground beef and defending myself, I didn't know it didn't matter if the teacher wasn't even in this area of the hallway!" She exclaimed with a snarl. Aura nodded. "I know, you need to fight back cause humans are such slow runners, especially if there are other pups in the way.' She thought. Harriss snarled. And I'm board out of my skull, plus it's staying like that till THURSDAY!" She shouted frustratedly. "But at least I can finish up a few more of your adventures." She said. Aura smirked. Aura perked up. "Oh yeah, if you can find another good voice, voice will try and take that one and you can catch her. You ere singing anon-human lullaby, so maybe you could get one of your pack members to howl a good tune as bait!" Aura said. Aura considered it. "I don't like asking other people to fight my battles though." She stated. Harriss shrugged. "Whatever, I gotta go tear something up in frustration. See ya!" She said disappearing.

Aura blinked a moment, then poked Kero to get his attention. Aura put her paws around her nose to imitate human imitating a wolf howl. Kero nodded and shrugged. "Okay, what about the wolves?" He asked. Aura pointed to her throat and then did the imitation again. "So, you think the wolves holing could attract Voice?" He guessed. Aura nodded. Then made a 'kinda right' signal with her hands. Kero raised an eyebrow. She raised Illusion. She pointed to it, imitated and then shrugged. Kero grinned. "Yeah, illusion could imitate a voice to!" He said. Aura grinned, and held up her staff, then summoned Illusion. Kero floated over. "Illusion, can you make Voice think there's another good voice around?" he asked. Illusion flew off in a streak of light and weird patterns. Kero and Aura followed. Illusion stopped about a mile later.

A new voice filled the area, a clearing in the woods with a river running through it. Aura sat down to wait. Illusion kept making the voice, one of the wolves howls. The soft howling filled the clearing. Soft enough to not attract the real wolves but loud enough to attract the card.

Voice listened to the wind, pinpointing the howls. Aura's chuckle came from her throat as she flew to the source of the howls. Voice landed in the clearing, looking for the source of the wolf song. She growled to herself, unable to see anyone. She floated to the tree line, to the middle of the clearing, through the tall grass, and over the river. She gave out a screech of frustration and landed on the riverbank. She raised lowered her head to the water, her new voice had made her thirsty, it took a lot of air to use, and now her throat felt like it was coated in sand. She took a few sips from the stream.

She yelped as someone tackled her, water splashing in her eyes. Aura pinned Voices wings to the ground and glared. Kero staggered, panting from the water. "How on Earth did you hold your breath for so long?" He asked collapsing. Aura smirked and raised her staff. "Return to the guise you were meant to be, Star card!" She said, tapping the trapped card. Voice snarled one last time before submitting and returning to a card. Aura lowered her staff and returned it to a key. Illusion returned to a card and floated back to its master. Aura pulled out a pen and signed voice. A small light floated from the card, and back to Aura. Aura gave an experimental bark. She grinned. "Nice to be able to talk." She said. "So, Voice, do you wan to stay as a card, or you can promise to not cause trouble or get seen, and roam free." Aura said. Voice remained as a card. Aura shrugged and slipped her into her pocket.


	22. Shot

The Shot

The Shot

Aura's tail flicked in time to her I pod. The music calmed her, in an attempt to fall to sleep. Kero snored softly from the end of her pillowcase. Aura snorted softly to herself as the song came to and end. 'Will nothing get me to sleep?' She thought to herself. She closed her second eyelid, and a thin film covered her eye as she stared at the ceiling through it. Harris peered down at Aura. "It's midnight in this word isn't it?" She asked. Aura nodded tiredly. Harris peered at her eyes. "What's with you eyelid being up?" She asked. Aura closed he eyes. "I don't want my view of the ceiling interrupted by blinking." Aura replied. Harriss raised an eyebrow, but dropped it and disappeared. Aura rolled over and stared at the wall now. Change snored softly on his beanbag on her table. Dash lay curled up at the foot of the bed, and jump was sleeping in the bookshelf atop a stack of books. The Sakura book lay in her desk with most of the card resting there for the night. Aura rolled over again before sliding onto the floor again. " Even when I'm exhausted I can't sleep." She hissed to herself, pacing the room. "And nothing I do can get me tired enough to sleep the night." A soft glow came from the book and a small-feathered Fly stepped onto the desk. Aura looked up. "Fly? What is it?" She asked the bird a she preened her wings. Fly stopped grooming and looked up.

"I can't sleep with you making so much noise pacing about and talking to yourself." She stated. Aura's ears drooped. "Sorry about that, I just can't sleep. If I was tired enough I could, but it would take too long to run myself that much, by then there'd be no time. And it's the only way I can get tired enough to sleep." She said. Fly narrowed her eyes a little. "Then why don't you just fly around for an hour? I used to do it all the time when I was a fledgling." She said. Aura rubbed her eyes. "I don't have wings of my own though. Wait, you were a fledgling? So you didn't start off full grown?" She asked. Fly nodded and looked up. "We all did, even Keroberos there. You know how they try to clone stuff now, but having the DNA start at old won't work very well. We had to be made tiny and grow up. Now it seems that we're all full grown, so you probably won't se that yourself." Fly said. "And about the wings, I could give you a pair. I wasn't just created for decoration after all." She said. Aura perked up. "Really? Then I could fly around on my own? Cool!" she said. Fly nodded. Aura frowned at the ceiling thought fully. "Will I have YOUR wings or a replica of them or what?" She asked. Fly began to spread her wings and concentrate. "No, once I give them to you they're yours to keep, and however they look isn't my decision." She said glowing faintly. Aura felt an itching along her spine and a feeling like her skin was too tight. A few moments later, a pair of wings grew from her back. Her wingspan looked about twelve feet, touching the walls of her room. The back of her wings had three layers of color. The area around the bone was a slate grey, under hat a deep black, and at the tips a milky white. The insides Aura could see were blue, fading from light to dark as it came to the edges. Her tail had also sprouted a circle of blue steering feathers. She flapped them a couple times and grinned. "Well, they look like they'll work fine. And they're pretty!" She said happily. She walked to the window. She turned back one last time. "Hey Fly, will these new wings work on their own until I learn how to fly myself, or will I be up all night trying to get off the ground. Fly chuckled and returned to a card without an answer. Aura shrugged and stepped out into the night air.

"IT! It's freaking freezing out here!" she hissed. She began to flap her wings, using the stroke she had seen on her new TV set. She jumped off the window ledge into the sky, and flapped. She fell like brick. 'But with enough power even a brick can fly.' She thought getting back up and flapping the dirt off her wings. "Come on, you have to have a flight instinct somewhere Aura." She said to herself. "After all, hollow bird bones, light weight design and speed, I can't let a little nuisance like gravity stop me now can I?" She muttered aloud flapping again. She dashed down the hill and flapped, jumping into the air a little bit each time.

Then it hit her, literally and metaphorically. She smacked into a tree branch that bent to let her fall forward as she tried to recover. She stumbled onto all fours a moment then began to pick up speed. She launched herself into the air again, flapping hard. She coasted for about five seconds before crashing into the dirt. She snarled to herself but stubbornly picked herself up. " That's it you stupid gravity stuff, this is war! I will go up!" She declared starting off again.

Kero fluttered his wings and floated into the air. The clock read five am, and he looked at the bed. "Oh no, she's out again!" He said flying to the window. "Lock, I need to find Aura, let me out." He ordered. Lock laughed but stayed shut. Kero growled and flew to the door, but it was locked too. "D'arvit!" He said to himself. He grabbed Aura's stuff; again she had left her key. He glared at the window. "Lock, I need to return this too her, she needs it if another card shows itself and tries to kill her." He said. Lock thought a moment, but let Kero out at last.

"NggH! Augh! RRRRR!" Aura grunted flapping her wings hard and fast. She began to rise a few feet and dove again as she slowed for a breath. She grunted again and rose higher. She gasped as she cleared most of the trees now. She panted for breath and flapped less often. She felt a breeze blow through her feathers and She tottered in the air, trying to work her tail to fly her steady again. "HA!" She declared as she began to ride the breeze up into the sky again. She had cleared all but the tallest trees now as her wings fell into a rhythm, up down up down. She grinned as the breeze began to dry the sweat from her muzzle. ' Much harder to fly than Kero was, but I also seem to be flying better than he does now.' She thought to herself. She circled back and headed home, feeling thoroughly worn out. She looked down to see Kero flying low over the woods with her Key. She spilled air from her wings and coasted down to meet him.

Kero looked up at the noise above. Aura flew down Kero almost forgot to flap for a moment. "Whoa, Aura, new wings?" He asked. Aura grinned. "Yeah, fly gave them to me. What are you doing out?" She asked. Kero handed her her key. "Forgot something." He said. Aura nodded. She perked her ears and stiffened. "Kero, I know after all this time this will probably sound weird, but I think I sense something." She said. Kero blinked. "How can that be? I don't sense anything and I'm the gaurdia- wait, yeah, it's faint. It's a card! How did you do that!?" He exclaimed. Aura shrugged, and almost lost her balance in the air.

Power looked up from under the tree and saw Keroberos and Aura circling the clearing. She hid her presence as best she could and grinned, gently holding a card in her hand She waited. The two flying cats circled closer to the ground, tighter over the clearing. Once they were close enough Power set the cad on the ground and stepped behind a bush to hide. "Shot." She said. The card glowed, and melted into a bright ball of light.

Shot looked around and her eyes fell on Aura. She raced into the air firing at her.

Aura looked over at the sound and yelped, shielding her eyes with her paws and causing her to fall from the sky a little. She readjusted her wings as Shot began to fire a volley of laser like shots. Kero flew out of the way. "Aura! It's the Shot card!" He screamed. Aura dipped a wing and turned out of the way of the next shot. Harriss floated next to Aura as she ran. "Hey, if you have a mirror you could reflect the attacks back at Shot and catch her. You got a mirror or a shiny wrapper or something?" She asked. Aura flapped furiously trying to dodge the shots, as they got more and more accurate. "No I don't, why would I?" I'm not to concerned about looks and all the candy bars have that icky chocolate stuff humans like so much that you know I hate!" She shouted. Harriss nodded. "Oh yes, I can't see why you don't Like it though, it's good. But you could win if you reflected the attack back. Maybe a river or lake would be shiny enough." She said. Aura nodded. "Freezes Lake!" She declared, turning in that direction. Power ran and followed behind as fast as she could.

Aura dove down at the lakes surface and coasted over the ice with her tail down to the surface. 'Freeze, dive deep, I need to try something her and I don't want you getting hurt if it doesn't work!' She thought. Freeze swam deep under the surface, to the lowest point in the lake and stared at the ice's surface. Aura flapped to gain her altitude back. Shot fired again and again at her. "Skeeeeer!" she screeched, like a raptors cry, as Shot hit her hind left paw. She staggered in the air but kept rising. Power crouched in the bushes, watching, waiting for her chance, a small grin on her face.

Aura circled once and dove past Shot. Shot dove after her, falling at the tip of her tail. She narrowed her eyes as the lake grew closer, and Shot prepared to fire. 'Not yet, not yet!' She thought desperately. Shot fired just as Aura opened her wings to skim over the ice's surface. Shot tried to draw back, but her reflected attack hit her in the face and she flopped onto the ice/. Aura tried to recover, but tumbled over the frozen water. She scrambled to her feet and held out her key, releasing it. Shot powered up her little parting gift and aimed at the card captor. Aura's staff sailed down at Shot, and shot fired. Aura screeched as the attack hit her arm. She struggled to hold the staff, and sealed away the card. Collapsing onto the ice, she drew out a pen and signed her new card.

Power grinned. 'Now is my chance, she can't run or fight, and I won't have to listen to anyone.' She thought getting ready to rush and kill the injured chimera. She froze at the sound of claws scrabbling over the ice. Two brown wolves, and six grey rushed over to Aura's side. Aura tried to rise and almost couldn't. Some of the wolves were looking around, trying to find the attacker. Aura looked around at the pack. Kero flew over the lake, eyeing the wolves cautiously.

Freeze swam under the lake surface, popping his head up to see what happened. Shot lay under Aura's paw, and the wolves, after being reassured Aura was fine, left. Kero fluttered under her to help drag her off the ice. Freeze turned as a fleeting shadow ran from the edge of the woods.

"Ouch, that has got to hurt." Kero said looking at the wounds on Aura's limbs. Aura licked them and whimpered. "It does." She answered. Kero crossed his legs and folded his arms in his thinking pose. "But why did Shot only attack then? If she was activated she would have attacked first thing, but it was if she was waiting or had just activated then. But that couldn't be because no one said Shot or anything that would cause her to activate." He muttered aloud to himself. Aura shrugged. "And I can't sense anything anymore, so why did I then?" She asked. Kero shrugged. "I don't know. It doesn't feel like your magi is stronger." He said. Aura lay down on her bed and closed her eyes. "I'm going to bed now, can you flick out the light there?" She asked Kero. He did and Aura curled up. "It was still a nice flight." She muttered falling into a slumber.

"Another failed mission. I can't believe this is happening!" Power muttered as she crashed through the forest. An arrow shaped head, like a snake of dragon, rose from the ground. "You failed then, I take it?" the form asked in a low whistling voice. Power nodded. "Next time, card captor, next time." Power said.


	23. Wood

The Wood

The Wood

"AUUUGGH!! Maniac on the loose!" Kero screamed flying at warp speed through the air. "GraOOOOOOHHH!" Aura roar-howled behind him Her wings flapped as fast as Kero's did. She gave a snarl revealing all 42 shiny sharp almost white teeth. The clenched jaw opened and she inhaled a huge breath. She clenched her teeth again for a moment and opened her mouth as wide as she could. "Groooogghh!" She bellowed as a blast of fire shot out at the little frantic guardian. "AHH!" He yelled dodging, but just barely. "OKAY OKAY! I forfeit! You can have your cookie back!" He yelled throwing the cookie in the air behind him. Aura dove and snatched the cookie up in her mouth. Kero turned and hovered, panting hard and tail bristling in fear. Aura glared at him as she turned back to her playing tree.

Kero perched on the limb of another tree and wiped his brow. "Dang, she's getting to fast on her flying." He complained to himself. Harriss peered down at him from her position of floating, hands behind her back and hair partially covering her face, and looked at the guardian. "She is fast. This is a great intro I can put in no tough." She said. Kero yelped and whirled around to see the semi-transparent figure. Harriss too looked a bit surprised. "Who the heck are you? Kero demanded. Harriss grinned. "I'm Harriss, Aura's 'imaginary' friend. It's weird, I thought Aura was the only one who could see me." She muttered to herself, before disappearing. Kero blinked, but the person was gone. "Whaa?" He asked himself.

Aura landed in her tree, munching her recaptured cookie. Aura looked up at Harriss. "Hey Aura, you look like Suppi on sugar when you eat like that." She told her. Aura tilted her head. "Suppi? Who's that?" Harriss chuckled. "Later in the plot, later my friend. Oh, and Kero saw me. I thought you were the only one who could do that." Aura looked up in alarm. "Kero?" She asked, but Harriss had disappeared. "Little annoying pup." Aura muttered munching her cookie Suppi-like again.

Power gazed up from the ground at her 'masters' tree, and the cookie-munching chimera sitting there. "Enjoy the cookie, last one you'll eat." Power grinned to herself. "That sounds so cliché." Said a serpent like head rising from, literally, a hole in the ground. Power looked at the hole. "And you crawling up from there? You have room to talk?" she retorted. The head looked up and snorted at Aura. "Not me, she won't get me, like she did you." It said looking to power. Power growled. "Watch it, just because you're an elemental card does not mean you can say that right in front of me." She hissed. The head snorted and retreated down into the ground again. Power gazed up at the tree, and then ducked into the bushes as Aura swung down to the ground. She landed with a plop on the forest floor. Power grinned and pressed back deeper into the bush. The thorns couldn't scratch her powerful hide, nothing could. Anything that tried would be crushed.

Aura looked up at Kero as he fluttered down next to her. Aura gave a small glare, but it turned into a little grin as she Turned and grabbed him around the middle, pinning his limbs to his side, but gently. Power watched in disgust as Aura gave him a long fierce noogie with her over sized paw. Kero growled playfully, trying to squirm free of his sugar filled master. Kero twitched his tail, pretending to be angry before he dove at Aura and noogied her back. Power was absolutely repulsed as he watched them play fight together like a couple of little dogs. Aura batted Kero's tail and bounced off into a chase through the woods. Power followed them, waiting for an opportunity to dispose of them.

Aura and Kero raced through the trees, Aura taking the lead, Kero advancing ahead of her, and she darting past him. Both were panting for breath. Aura stopped at a large chasm in the woods. "This wasn't here yesterday." She said to herself. A river rushed through the bottom of the small canyon. Power burst out from behind her, arms out. Aura yelped as Power pushed her into the chasm. Aura, claws out, grabbed a handful of dirt, and tried in vain to get a hold with her other paw. Power lunged at Kero, breaking his wings before he knew what had hit him. Aura yelped and lashed her tail out, wrapping it around the falling guardian.

"Kero!" She yelled. Kero gasped in pain as the knowledge Power had broken his wings became apparent. Aura turned her snout up and looked at Power. "Power, help, pull us out!" She pleaded, her claws slipping from the side of the gorge. She looked down at the river rushing below them. Power laughed, an attempted deep evil laugh. She knelt down and looked Aura I the eye. Kero climbed up her tail and glared power in the eye too. She grinned and stared at the flightless and in pain Kero. She put her hands around Aura's paw and began to slowly, easily, pull her fingers loose, breaking them for fun as she went. Aura and Kero's eyes. "Say hello… to Clow for me." She narrowed her eyes triumphantly and popped Aura's last finger free.

Aura screeched, flailing as she fell. Kero screamed too. The pair hit the raging river. Aura flailed as Kero held desperately onto her head. She began to panic as another blast of water filled her mouth, and knocked Kero loose. Kero went down into the tide almost instantly, as Aura flailed in blind panic for a handhold. Another wave washed over her, filing her mouth and lungs with water. Aura flailed again, but grew quickly weaker and weaker. She felt the water battering her around, pushing her under, ready to claim her. She fell into unconsciousness. The waves dragging her limp body down to its depths.

Power stood up and cackled. "Never a card captor capable of being my master." She said, turning to the woods. The serpent rose from the earth, and lunged to the other side of the crevice, leaving a trail of stone in her wake. The stone grew, as she jumped across the chasm many more times. Sealing up the canyon, she went down through the woods. Turning to leap again, she stopped and struggled, prying herself free from the roots around her. She gasped in horror as they tore at the sealed stone she had made. "No!" She screamed.

Aura coughed, water coming out of her in torrents from her mouth and coat. Kero lay gasping next to her. She looked around the area with a bleary eye. Roots held her from the furious river. Kero looked at the roots and breathed a relived sigh. Aura lay limply in the grasp of the plants. Her paw hurt badly, but was beginning to go numb at last as her mind began to ignore the pain. The roots and vines began to drag her up from the gorge and into the air. Kero relaxed completely in the grip, and began to pat the roots thankfully. "Wood, you saved our lives. Thanks a million." He said. Aura looked u and saw a tree and it's roots lifting he back up. The canyon had seemed to seal itself up. The tree laid the pair down on the ground. Aura shook the water from her pelt and put a paw on the tree. "Kero, is this tree a card?" She asked. Kero nodded. "Yeah, Wood, and a good thing too. She's a gentle card, and she saved up from drowning down there." He said. Aura nodded. "Thank you, wood. Thank you so much." She said sitting down in exhaustion.

"Uhh, sound mean to ask but, could I quickly seal you away. Just while I sign your card tat is." She said. Wood reverted to a card and Aura signed her, letting he back out as if she had never gone.

Aura looked back behind her wearily. "That was power that pushed me, wasn't it? Little traitor!" She hissed. Kero nodded. "She did. I think I know why to." He said. Aura looked over, giving him her full attention. "It had better be a REALLY good reason, or she WON'T live to see the end of the week. Traitors and the like are the worst scum around." She growled. Kero folded his arms and legs and floated. "Now this is just an idea, but here's what I think it is…"


	24. Earth

The Earth

The Earth

" Aura, remember how you captured Power? You almost got killed and, not to insult your ability to fight, but you only survived through the luck I dropped in with your key and distracter Power. I thought that was it, but looking back, not only did you slur the sealing spell pretty bad, but also you caught her wrong. Power is a special card, you have to defeat her in contest of strength to seal her, she's too proud to be caught any other way, but you actually lost. I think that confused her and then slurring the spell caused it to only partially work. She isn't fully under your control, not even close. If you defeat her in a contest of strength then she, probably, will listen to you, as long as you don't slur the spell either." He said. Aura shook her fur again and lowered her ears, and partially let her fur stop bristling. "Well, it looks like I can let her live to see the end of the week then, but I still want to know how that canyon came up, then disappeared." She said. Kero examined the remains the opened around Wood. "This is the work of the Earth card. She's the second elemental, and if you catch her, with fire also under your control, I could return to my true form and be more helpful." Kero said. Aura nodded. " Sounds like we should catch Earth, then rematch Power. What does your true form look like anyway?" Aura asked. Kero grinned in a proud way. "It's. Cool beyond belief!" He boasted. Aura snorted. "Yes, that is very specific." She said sarcastically. The pair got up to start their search for Earth.

Aura sniffed the ground. "Kero, this is useless, I can't smell anything. We need a faster way to search. I'm going up." She said. She brought out her wings and flew into the sky. Her blue under wing colors blended nicely into the sky. She looked at the ground below. Kero searched next to her. Aura flew in widening circles like she had read to do. She growled in frustration. "Al right, this is getting nowhere. Kero, is there a quick way to find this thing?" She asked. Kero shook his head. "Nope. Not that I know of anyway. If I could get back to my true form, locating them would be easy but to get to my true form I need the Earth card under control." He said sighing. Aura panted. "Either way though, I am getting WAY too tired. I'm going to land at the lake." She said diving to the ground. Aura flared her wings and tail, sliding over the ice on all fours. Freeze swam under her and greeted her. She skidded to a halt and withdrew her wings. Rolling round on the ice to cool off, she noticed one of the wolves watching her from the edge of the lake. Aura went back to rolling on the ice as Kero floated down. "Not going to greet your wolf friend?" he asked. Aura shook her head. "No, it's just the Omega wolf. The new one." She said sliding around on her tummy like a goof. ((Aura read over my shoulder and slapped me upside the head for writing that)) The wolf turned and retreated into the woods again and gave a bark of alarm. Aura stopped playing on the ice and skated to the woods. The little white wolf was trying to scramble back onto solid ground. Earth rose up from behind it. "Well card captor, we meet at last." She said. Aura growled. "Let Do'vup go." She commanded. Earth snorted but filled the hole with a swish of her stone fin. The wolf bolted into the trees as Aura began to morph to her Chimera form. "No need for that, it's useless trying to fight!" Said Power stepping out from the tree. Aura swiveled her head and growled low in her throat. She looked down at the feeling of her paw being held. She tried and failed to tug herself free from the cement like hold Earth had on her feet. She watched as the stone crept up her legs, holding her in place as Power walked over with an air of confidence. Aura's mind raced for an idea, and one came.

"Power, you a coward, you know that right?" she said turning to the card with her ears flat. Power looked shocked a moment while Aura continued. "I mean, I thought you were a bold card, just coming out and attacking in what was a fair fight at first. Now you need another card to help you to kill me, after all that 'I can kill you with my own two hands thing'. It's pathetic how low you've stooped, relying on an elemental to fight your battles for you, too scared to try and take me out on your own after me and Kero kicked your a I guess. Don't worry, It's understandable you'd be scared of trying a fair fight now." She continued. Power was bristling now, and growling. Earth put a fin on her shoulder. "Cool it, she's just trying to goad you into a fight so she can escape. Power almost calmed down. "I see you need Earth to think for you AND fight for you. So then, what do you do I wonder." She said. "I know, you can't do anything without help!" Aura began to laugh at this. Power screeched and let loose a kick to the stone around Aura's paws. Earth screeched at Power to stop, but Power ignored her. "What's the matter Earth, can't keep your minion under control? No surprise though." Aura said nonchalantly. Earth and Power were furious now. "MINION!" Power screeched indignantly.

" I can too control her!" Earth screamed angrily. Power turned. "I thought you agreed we were equals! You can't control ME!"

"I'm the elemental, one of the four strongest cards! I could kick you around anytime I want!"

"I dare you to repeat that!" The two shouted back and forth while Aura slowly drew her key into a staff. Earth said one to many insults and Power leapt at her with a war cry. Earth and Power tore at each other fiercely. Kero floated down to his master. "Wow, you sure can get under someone's skin when you want too." He commented watching Power go flying into a new cliff. "Yeah, I try. And apparently I succeed too." Aura replied as Earth was being strangled. The two watched the cards fighting, Powers strength and determination against Earths skill and ability. Aura watched as Earth crashed into the ground in front of her. Power was literally frothing at the mouth, and a total mess. Aura looked up at the card. "Wow, you're strong as you act." She said. Power puffed up as aura raised Her staff over Earth. "Return to the guise you were meant to be, star card!" She said. Earth was sucked back into a card as Aura whipped out a pen and signed her quickly. Power and aura turned to see Kero go limp and float into the air, glowing brightly. His wings grew into a cocoon around him, and the light was too bright to see through. Aura looked back up when it had lessened and saw the cocoon open. In front of her stood Keroberos in his true form, armor glinting and fur almost glowing yellow. Aura walked over to her guardian, which was twice as big as her tiger form now. She whistled. "It is cool. And," she raised a paw and stood on her hind legs, placing a paw on his neck. "It's really soft. You smell like toast now." She commented. Kero sighed. "Of course, that has to be almost the first thing you notice, I smell like toast." He said. Aura giggled and buried her face in her soft pelt. "PTTTHHHHHPPPTT!" She blew into his fur. "ACK! What was that for?" Kero shouted as Aura pulled her face up for air. She laughed and hugged him harder. Kero sighed and sat down, waiting for Aura to remember what was going on. Power blinked and her eye twitched. She looked at Kero and pointed to

Aura. "And you wanted THAT to be our master? What the H is wrong with you?" She asked. Kero shrugged. "I know, a first impressions go, she wasn't very good then either." He shrugged, and then stiffened. "Aura, what are you doing!" He ground out. Aura was grooming him like a cat. She licked his ears and purred. "Toooaaassstt…" She droned out. Kero shuddered and plucked her off of him. "What the H is wrong with you?" he asked. Aura giggled and pet him again. Kero looked over to Power. "It looks like it will be a while before the rematch. That okay with you. I'd like to wait till it calms down." He said holding Aura at arms length. Aura purred on unaware. Power nodded. "I'd like that too." She said walking off. "Let's go then." He said flying her back home. Aura giggled and purred some more.


	25. The rematch

Powers rematch

Powers rematch

Kero hammered the glass with her paw. Loc was hysterical, laughing hard in the safety of the room. "Lock, this ISN'T funny, let us in!" Kero growled. Lock, as always, refused to obey Keroberos. Aura put a paw on the window and it unlocked. She wagged her tail and Kero dragged her in. "Why are you acting so weird suddenly?" He asked closing the window. Aura bounced onto the bed. "You don't look like Kero, or smell like Kero, or sound like Kero, or taste like Kero, or fell like Kero, my subconscious is telling me you aren't Kero. I know you are but my sub is making me act weird because it says this is the first impression thingy, and they always make me act weird."" She said calmly. She broke into a giggling fit and began to wrestle around on the floor with her pillow. "At least there IS a reason." He muttered, deciding her would ask her when her sanity returned.

"Dinner time, wanna come?" Aura asked later. Kero nodded eagerly and spread his wings as best he could in the small room. Folding them into a cocoon he reverted to his false form. Aura put him around her shoulder and the two walked to the cafeteria. "And today's meal of mystery, is it A) Meat, B) Vegetable, or C) none of the above?" Aura joked sniffing it. Kero stared at it closely, sniffed and thought. "I vote C." He said. Aura nodded. "The sad thing I, I'm not sure weather or not either of us was joking." She said sitting at one of the table today. The Aura at most of the food, slipping Kero scraps of 'bread' and 'meat'. They finished and Aura headed up to her room. "So what would be a good way to beat Power in her strength contest? I can't think of a contest I could win against her myself." She said. Kero sighed. "Me either. The only way to win would be to cheat somehow, but even that probably wouldn't work. Power may specialize in strength but aside from her pride she's no fool." He said thinking aloud. Aura and Kero thought of ideas, all rejected as they walked to the fourth floor. Aura stopped talking when she heard footsteps coming down the other hall. She stiffened and slid into a poorly illuminated are and let some of her camouflage stripes came out. Her nose was sniffing the air cautiously her ears swiveled in on the sound. Kero looked and saw the guy who attacked her on his first day out standing in the other hall. One of his 'minions' talking with him. The two were talking, or more likely plotting an attack on someone else. "You say this guy can pick any lock, how long does it take?" He barked. His subordinate remained as neutral as he could. "He claims it only takes five minuets at most. Devon, I seen him at it, he aint lying here. He busted my room in about a minuet. This Ralf guy, if he's that good he can break into that chick Aura's room in no time." The minion said. Devon grinned a scuzy grin. "Good, tell him to be here tomorrow or else." The two parted way down the hall and as soon as it was clear Aura slipped into her room on the next floor.

"Think they'll be any threat?" aura asked. Kero looked concerned. "Normally with lock up no, but I could sense a lingering trace of someone else's magic on the other guy. To linger around that strongly, this lock picker, if it's his magic, might get through. It does worry me. Magic is real rare, so, who else's could it be? I haven't sensed any but you own around her, so…" He trailed off. Aura morphed tiger and paced around. "If only I knew who it was, then I could remove it before it became a threat to me." She muttered. Kero jolted back to reality. "Hang on, get rid of him before he does anything? Isn't that going too far?" he asked. Aura shrugged. "If I feel threatened I try to remove the threat, if that wasn't an option, I'd flee, but doing that would mean leaving the card job half done, and I don't want to do that." She said. Kero sighed. "And speaking of cards, we need to defeat Power somehow. Ohh this is so not fun at all!" He said angrily. Aura nodded.

" Swimming." Harris said next to aura. She looked up in confusion. "Swimming, it takes strength and stamina to swim a race. I know you hate getting in water that could be dangerous like the river, but it's the only way I think you'd stand a chance. I've seen you swim underwater, and you do it as well as any fish, or other aquatic creature." She said.

Aura thought about it as Harriss vanished. "Kero," she began interrupting his possible contest list, and why it wouldn't work," What about a swimming contest, in the river or something? It takes power to swim a river in a race, but I know how to manage in the water now that my paws healed up." She said Kero thought a moment. "I guess but wait Already It hasn't even been a day!" He exclaimed. Aura grinned, "If I needed to I could grow back whole limbs in about a week. Healing a paw is nothing. "She said. Kero stared open-mouthed and shook himself out of it. "I think a river race might work, as long as you do know how to swim fast. How fast do you swim?" he asked. Aura got up. "If there's a good current, I'd say about six or seven miles per hour. About crocodile speed I guess." She said. Kero whistled. "That's fast! That's very fast. You may have a chance of winning this then." He said. Aura nodded. "But, I'd also be swimming up stream, and without a good current it's probably a bit less. How fast do you think Power would swim?" She asked. Kero thought a moment "I'd say about three quarters of your speed, if she had practice and a good stroke, but if you swim as fast as you claim, you should win this." He said. Aura nodded. 'Thanks for that Harriss,' She though. The two decided to challenge Power in the morning, and went to sleep.

"Good morning!" she said to Kero. Kero stirred from his slumber and waved a paw at her before snuggling further into the pile of warm plush toys. Aura sighed. "Need I remind you we need to catch Power today. Wake up already Keroberos." She ordered. Kero grumbled to himself but crawled out into the cold air in the room. "Could you have Fire act as a room heater in here or something, it's fu- it's freezing in her." He said as he rubbed his arms and curled up into a ball. Aura shrugged. "I know, but I prefer to have it cold to hot, I could go into detail about the dangers of heat and cold, weighing the risks of each and why I choose that, but I'd like to set out while my smooth oily heat retaining fur is going to be an advantage." She said plucking the guardian up and carrying him to the window. "Dang, it is freezing out here, what a day for a swim in a melted snow stream huh?"

Aura spread her wings and flew over her hill, around Freezes Lake, and to the cliffs, but didn't see Power about. She was about to ask Kero if he could sense her when she picked up her presence and followed it. "Kero, this is weird, normally I can't sense card at all, but each time I take to the skies I can feel them quickly." She said. Kero nodded. "It's probably because Fly loaned some magic to make your wings, so it goes through there and you get a boost from it." He explained. Aura skimmed the treetops, stopping when she saw Power sleeping on a patch of rock. She landed and shook the card awake. Power looked up blearily.

"Huh? What do you want?" power asked stretching awake. Aura sat down and swished her tail. "I calmed down, it's just my 5 senses told me that wasn't Kero and it was conflicting with my mind that said he is and it just made me a little crazy. I also came up with an idea for our rematch." She said. Power was awake at that. "Oh, you did, did you? Just what might that be? She asked. "Swimming a race through the forests main river. With the current, the water, and the temperature, it does take strength to swim, and lots of it, right?" She asked. Power considered this. "I guess it would. All right, how did you plan the race to be?" she asked. " I was thinking maybe a 300 meter round trip race. Turn around at 150 meters, starting by swimming down stream." She said Power nodded. "All right then, sounds good to me." She said. The three went to the river, selecting a straight deep area with a strong but not rapid current. Kero floated at the turn around point, and Freeze had set a small chunk of ice at the finish line for the winner to grab.

"Ready, GO!" Freeze said. Aura and power both took off down the river. Power was swimming like a normal person, but Aura was using a different technique. She held her breath and dove, flapped her tail up and down a few times to right her course, then swished it rapidly from side to side, gliding like a crocodile or a snake through the frigid water. Her front paws, held down against her tummy served as steering fins and her ears were laid flat against her skull. Her un-groomed and now oily fur kept out the water, and her gently curving snout parted the currents allowing her to sail past Power in the river. Power swam harder, picking up a little more speed. Aura surfaced and had to slow a moment to catch her breath, then dove and swam another fifty or so meters.

Power was at the fifty meter mark went Aura swam past Kero, and spewing a small mouthful of water at the tuft on his tail for fun. She turned and swam downstream before he could even shout at her for it. Aura passed Power at the halfway mark and surfaced. Power grunted and swam harder. Aura neared the end of the course when she felt a tug at her paw. She looked down to see an abandoned and ripped fishing net caught on her foot. She tried to tug free, but her paw and toes were tangled greatly in it. She swam up, only to find her snout was below the surface by a good foot or so.

Panic set in and she squirmed, and bit, and clawed, and dug, but her paw wouldn't come out. She rolled and thrashed into the water, sending it up in waves of white droplets. She felt the net tighten around her foot, digging in deeper and ensnaring her even further. She clawed at the mud around the net, but it fell back into the holes faster then she could dig. She chewed at it, but the strong strands wouldn't be broken. She felt herself getting light headed and dizzy. 'No, not drowning, anything but drowning!' She thought desperately. She withered in the water, the cold seeped through her fur, and she felt herself going numb. Seeing no other choice she tried her last escape rout.

She turned and opened her mouth, bringing her jaws around over her stuck foot. The icy mountain fed river numbed her whole body, where the oily fur had been shaken apart into spikes to let the water through. She snapped again and again as blood began to mix with water, she tore at her ankle, feeling herself begin to float to the surface. Her sharp teeth and powerful jaws tore at skin and bone, ripping her foot from the rest of her body. There was o air, no feeling, no way to think, just instinct to try and break free of the net that kept her under the glimmering surface of the river. She snapped and chewed and clawed, feeling bone break and skin tear. At last she had chewed her way free and gasped for air, splashing down the river. Her mind spun around, the only thoughts were that of the water, icy water, and the shore taunting her, as the water turned pink.

Power was closing the distance and Aura flailed in the water, snapping for the ice. Her teeth found the block and she floundered desperately for shore, feeling her strength going. She grasped some of the rocks at the shore and pulled herself to land, lying limp on the dirt of the forest floor. Kero flew over to her, looking sick at the sight of her self-mangled foot. She gasped and let the block fall to the ground, sleepiness beginning to cloud her mind. "Aura, Aura! No, don't go to sleep! Stay awake! Aura!" Her eyes closed, Kero's voice seemed like a far off echo, or a dream. "AURA! Come on!" Kero shouted, shaking her. "You said you could grow it back, come on, We'll get you back home, get you warmed up and you can rest there, hang on!" He said, transforming into his true form. He hoisted the chimera onto his back, leaping into the sky and racing for Aura's tree, where she kept all her strange plants from places unknown to anyone else. Kero landed and raced to the tree on the hill, pawing desperately, without any idea what to do.

"Get bandages, star shade and something to keep pressure on her stump." Kero whirred to see a semi-transparent figure floating near him. "Hurry, the clocks ticking!" Harris said. Kero gathered his thoughts and plucked up the items. Put star shade over the wounds, it kills infections and stuff like that, then wrap the strips of cloth around it, not too lose." Harriss said. Kero did as she said. "Who are you, and how do you know this?" he asked. Harriss looked down at Aura. "I'm Harriss, and there are Aura's from all parts of timelines that I can talk to, and the one with me now says that 's what you need to do." She replied vanishing. "HEY! Wait!" Kero demanded, but the figure was gone. He looked down at Aura, and curled up around her, putting his wing over her to form a warm Kero cocoon on the cold day.

Aura stirred from her sleep. She felt cold still, and her paw felt funny.

She looked down as the day's event flashed back to her. She winced at her paw, but wasn't worried, knowing she could grow a new one. She looked around, the wall was yellow, thee roof was white and feathery, and she could see a paw sticking into the cocoon. "She sniffed. "So, it's Kero then." She said snuggling into his warm side.

Kero was roused back to reality as he felt Aura stirring awake. He breathed a sigh of relief. She muttered something he didn't catch. "What?" He asked. Aura curled up next to him again. "Toooaaassst…" She said falling back to sleep again.


	26. Float

The float

The Float

Aura lay sprawled all over her bed asleep. Kero was also lying down next to her, on the floor. Her tail twitched in her sleep and she lazily gnashed her teeth together. She was snorting and snuffling now. Kero looked up as her sleep became restless. Her paws trashed the air as if trying to kick off an opponent. Kero got up and watched as she snarled. He raised a paw to wake her up when she started mumbling to herself. "A...ven. Aven." She said as she stirred. Kero tilted his head. Aura opened her eyes. A great yellow cat face filled her vision. "Kreee!" She screeched in her bird like screech of surprise. "Kero, what is it?" She asked. Kero snickered and lay back down. "What were you dreaming about? You were thrashing about and snarling. Then you said Aven." He said. Aura slid out of bed. "Don't quite remember, you scared me awake, and now without time to recall it before I woke up, I forgot." She said. Kero frowned. "Aura, you should remember them, people with magical powers usually have dreams that mean something. They can even show parts of the future sometimes, it's certain that dream would mean something if you remembered it." He explained. Aura snorted. "So, this only happens after the seals broken, or would it have been in my whole life?" she asked. "Whole life. Why?" He asked. Aura smirked. "Tell me what this is supposed to mean then.

"I was randomly fighting Kabuto, from this show I watch, who was for some reason just standing there and getting hit. I was also randomly switching between being me and being Mario. Apparently, I almost killed Kabuto, so Jeremy, from a different show, came up and somehow turned Kabuto into not one, but two squirrels. And Kabuto turned into fried chicken somewhere in there. But some random people and I were at this wooden building thing with a huge window like at a zoo, and it looked like a regular outdoor setting, but it was apparently underwater because there was a giant fish swimming through it. For some reason I asked one guy if he could find an entrance for us to go in, and he looked, but he said he could not find one and that we would have to go through the hole he was pointing at that looked like a hot tub and that we had to go in the white suits. And the weird thing about that was that nowhere in the entire dream were there any white suits, but I knew exactly what he was talking about. So it was time for lunch, and we were sitting at a nice, long wooden table eating Mexican food. Some woman I don't really know came up behind me and repeatedly tapped me in my back, but I ignored her. She kept it up, and I eventually turned around. The Kabuto squirrels were on her shoulders and apparently Kabuto needed some of our food to turn back into a human. All I had left was a little-bitty tiny thing of those nasty refried beans that I don't like, so I gave that to her, and then another person I thought for some reason was my cousin, who was sitting next to me gave her some salsa. And then one of the Kabuto squirrels randomly bit my hand. And then I woke up. ((A/N: This is actually a dream a friend of mine had, but she said I should use it here))"

Kero scowled. "You're mocking me, aren't you?" He said. Aura nodded. "Yes, I find the idea of future telling dreams for magic peoples as quite stupid, myself." She said. Kero growled. "Well stop it. Do not mock me, okay?" He said. Aura snorted loudly as she reared up on her hind leg over the plushy like guardian in tiger form. "Or what?" she asked. Kero snarled and folded his wings around him, opening them to show him in his true form now. Aura flattened her ears. "So what, I know you wouldn't fight your best while I'm crippled, it's part of you personality, while wounded animals are much more vicious than most, so I could still kick you're as-butt around." Aura corrected noting Harriss hovering over her shoulder scowling. Harriss disappeared again. Kero growled, knowing she was right and hating it. Aura looked down at her leg. Her paw was growing well, it only had to regrow her toes and claws, then some fur and she could start using it. She limped to the area under her bookcase and fished under it, coming out with a ziplock bag of dried meat. She opened I and threw Kero a large piece, snagging one for herself.

Kero opened his mouth and started gnawing on the tough rabbit meat, forgetting about Aura mocking him once she gave him a snack. 'Typical,' She thought sliding into bed. Aura and Kero chewed the snacks in silence for a while. Aura gulped the last shreds of her piece down and looked at Kero.

"Kero, when I bit my paw off, and won the race you brought me straight to the tree to put the bandages on, right?" She asked. Kero nodded, wincing at the memory of her mangled stump. Aura continued. "So what about Power?" She asked. Kero thought for a minuet. "She's likely still in the woods, but there shouldn't be a time limit on how soon you have to catch her after she's defeated." He said. "But I don't know for sure." He finished. Aura looked out the window. " We might want to hurry then, it's already been two days, and with your true form you can fly me there." She said. Kero nodded, transforming. Aura slid onto his back, like she was riding a horse. Kero's wings opened up as her and Aura went out the window. Taking off, Aura yelped and her claws shot out reflexively. "OUCH!" Kero yelped. "What was that for?" He demanded. Aura readjusted herself, clinging closer to his neck. "I slipped and was about to fall." She said. "Whoops..."

"…Hey Kero, exactly how fast do you fly?" Aura asked out of nowhere. Kero thought. "I don't know, why don't we find out?" He flapped harder, letting his magic guide him over to Power. Kero flapped hard, and Aura pressed herself deep as she could into his fur. She peeked over his shoulder, careful not to interrupt the wing movements, and saw the ground zipping past. She looked at the city, as it also flew past. "He flies fast." She muttered. Kero slowed down panting a few moments later. He circled once, then spotted Power who was gazing back up at him. The pair landed next to her.

"Hello." Aura said sliding onto three paws. Power nodded but said nothing, shifting her gaze to Auras paw. She looked surprised at the fact it was smooth striped skin and the wrist like part had grown back. "Your foot!" she exclaimed. Aura grinned. "That is the result of combining lizard and dragon and a few other things into me, it's growing back." She said limping over with her key. Power looked at the key and sighed, but made no attempt to fight or flee as Aura drew out her staff. Power was re-sealed and Aura wrote her name on the new card. Kero walked over. " Whew, no fight, that's good, especially considering how you're missing a foot." He said. Aura nodded. "I hate walking on three paws, it's so annoying." She muttered walking back to Kero.

She went rigid as her bad leg started floating, the rest of her following. She relaxed and looked down as she drifted up. Kero gasped. "It's the Float card!" He said. Aura looked down. "Gee, you think?" she said sarcastically, as Kero grew smaller and smaller. Float pushed her up even faster. She watched the ground below her and looked at the city. "I can see my house from here!" She told Float. Float seemed hesitant for a moment and stopped. Float slipped out from under Aura and she went plummeting towards the ground. She flailed a moment in the air, before spreading her wings and gliding down. Float yelled in frustration. Aura turned to the frustrated card. "Watch your language, and what are you yelling about anyway?" She flapped over to him. "Why aren't you scared? Most people would be terrified of falling from this height!" Float yelled. Aura looked amused. "Well, incase you couldn't tell from the claws, stripes, wings, magic, and all the other stuff, I aint' most people." She told Float, patting it on the back. Float sighed and began to drift off. Aura gabbed Float's balloon and pulled him back, oh no you don't, after I get you signed you're staying here." She fluttered back to the ground next to an anxious Keroberos. "You okay? Sorry, I should have sensed Float, he's a trickster, loves to scare people. Why couldn't I sense him?" Kero asked himself. Aura shrugged. "If it's any consolation, neither could I." She offered. Kero scowled. "Oh, that's strange." He said. Aura laughed and searched her pockets, clutching Float. " Here it is!" She said summoning her staff. Float squirmed, but Aura held him still while she sealed and signed the card.

"Okay, now you can come out if you want, and roam around, just don't get seen or caught, or do anything REALY bad." She said. Float floated out and floated into the sky and floated around over the city. "Well, let's get home!" Aura said climbing onto Kero. The two took off, heading back home.

A screech of terror was heard behind them. Both of them turned to see Float up to 'minor' mischief already.

"…Sometimes I question my idea of letting the cards roam free..." Aura said giving one last look over her shoulder at the flying tanning bed, and passenger.


	27. Sleep

The Sleep

The Sleep

Aura and Kero flew through the forest. Aura turned and kicked at Kero, Kero dodged in a dive and flew up under Aura. She flapped and dodged to the right. Swiping him on his way up. Kero yelped as a little blood dribbled out. Aura smirked. "First blood! I win again!" She declared. Kero landed and looked at his master as she tucked in her wings.

"How do you do that? No matter what I try you always out fly me and win the match!" He whined. Aura sat on her Haunches and licked her fur. "It's because… I've been flying and… trying new tricks… for fun." She said between licks. Kero sighed. "Oh well, hmm… where did you learn these tricks?" He asked. Aura looked up. "The M.R. series. Mostly book one." She said. Kero nodded and took off into the sky. Aura got up and continued deeper into the woods.

"Man, I'm getting hungry. I think I'll see if I an get a rabbit." She muttered as she walked through the woods. She halted as a green dust floated through the air. She saw a green card wedged in between a couple of tree roots. "Lucky find!" she said reaching for it. The Sleep card finished activating itself then and flew into the air. Aura yelped and jumped back. The fairy floated in the air and grinned, dive bombing her again. She turned around and ran back to where she had been fighting Kero. Sleep cackled. "NAP TIME!" She screamed hurling more sparkles at Aura. Aura looked around the clearing, but Kero was gone now. She turned as Sleep floated into view. Sleep threw some sparkles at the chimera and she fell over, asleep.

Aura and the wolves ran through the woods. She looked over her shoulder and saw the suns last lights as it set, and human figures, faces hidden in the shadows pursuing them. The wolves yelped, and she saw traps, steel, closing around their paws. Shots rang out and evil laughter from the humans. The laughs of the village from long past, and her enemies pursuing them. The wolves howled and some fought back. Screams and blood filled the forest. She turned as the humans, still only vague flittering shadows danced in front of the pack, shooting and killing, and the wolves as they howled and barked. Screams and yelps tore through the air as she turned and fled from the sight with tears in her eyes.

"Run!" A long gone voice shouted in her head. She ran gasping for breath through the forest, the thorns and sticks shredding her tender young paws. She ran, as a pup through the forest hiccupping for breath as the last rays of sunlight died. She looked up and saw that she was in a different forest, the bamboo forest she had been seeing lately. The smell of the other cat hung in the air, along with that of damp soil and lingering traces of decay. The bamboo ended to a clearing in front of her, and several stones marking graves. The statue in the middle of the graves sat silently, as if resting.

She tried to read the markings on the rocks, but even though she knew the language and the letters, the meaning and the words themselves seemed unreal, and incomprehensible. She looked up to the sky as it grew dark and grey. The rays of a sunrise glowed off of them and the mist swirling over the ground.

The cat statue, coated in dew, gleamed in the reddening sunlight. A wind blew and it raised its head, turning to look at her. The eyelids opened to reveal bright crimson eyes with blue centers. The stone fur carved onto the coat cracked as the thin layer of stone broke off. Shiny sleek grey and black fur broke through. The stone feathers tipping her tail turned bright red, with tips as blue as those eyes. She glared at Aura.

"I am Aven, and you are not welcome here." She said as she turned and charged at Aura. Aura turned and tried to flee, but the cat bit her on the back of the neck and pinned her to the ground snarling. Aura cried out and fell and as the leathery wings beat the air into a confusing torrent of sound, pain and chaos. She curled into a ball and lay shivering in the misty darkness, when a voice began to sing to her.

A brown wolfs paw pet her soothingly as the wolf sang the lullaby of the wolves to her and grabbed her scruff in his jaws. She stopped shivering and relaxed in the wolf's care.

Aura woke up and saw Kero floating overhead. "Aura, your up, come on, you need to catch the Sleep card!" He ordered. Aura looked up. She sighed and stretched. "Just a dream then, just a dream…" she turned and bounded off in the direction Kero had been pointing, wings flying out and lifting her into the sky.

Sleep flew through the woods, dropping down to the treetops as the suburbs came into view. Aura flapped harder and dove at the unsuspecting card. She braked hard with her wings as her hind paws snatched Sleep out of the air like a pair of giant furry talons. Sleep squealed in surprise as she rose into the sky and back to the woods with her. Sleep conjured sleeping dust and tried to throw it at Aura. She grinned as the wind from her wings whipped the dust away from her.

Sleep shivered in her grasp as she tried vainly to wriggle free. Aura folded her wings and began to dive to where Kero was. Sleep conjured up another handful of dust and threw it at the chimera now that her wings were closed. Aura shrieked and released sleep, backpedaling out of the way of the dust. Sleep began throwing sleep at Aura and she tried to dodge. As the dust got closer and began to fill the air with a soon inescapable cloud Aura got an idea. She summoned her staff and drew out an empty card. "Fire, is it possible to burn Sleeps powder so it won't work?" she asked.

"Yes." Fire said. "So I suppose you want me to come over and do that then?" she asked. Aura raised her staff. "Yes, I do" She summoned the card and Fire appeared in a burst of flame. Sleep hissed and turned around to flee. Aura and Fire flew after her, burning away all the sleeping powder trailing behind the fleeing card. Sleep panted or breath and began to slow down. Aura caught up and plucked the tired card from the air. Sleep didn't even try to resist as Fire flew next to Aura.

The cards and master landed as Aura drew out her staff. After sealing sleep she thought for a moment and turned to Kero who floated nearby.

"Kero, is there a way to keep a card from going crazy if its out while you're asleep?"" she asked Kero thought. "Well, you could lock it somewhere with Lock." He suggested. Aura grinned. "Good, I haven't had a decent nap in over a month, I need one." She began to walk home grinning. Kero followed with a sigh.

Aura flopped onto her bed and pulled out Sleep. "All righty, I'm tired, come on out, I haven't had a nice long nap in a month and a half and I really need one!" She said to the card. Sleep floated out in a green flash and hovered over Aura. Aura snuggled into the pillow as unconsciousness took over instantly.

Kero turned to Sleep with a wry smile. " You know, sometimes, like now, I think she's just like Clow was, using the cards for every little thing."

"Yeah, but because of that, we cards were made in the first place." Sleep said. Kero nodded as Aura snoozed away in her bed.


	28. Rain

The Rain

The Rain

Aura rummaged around in the dump occasionally plucking out an old piece of junk that looked useful. Jump hopped from tire to tire in circles as Aura held up a can. She looked inside it and sniffed. "OH yeah!" She exclaimed holding her trophy in the air. "SODA! And not the caffeine free junk either!" She rattled the can and heard it was almost half full. "She also saw the remains of a sandwich and a napkin. "Looks like it was some workers leftovers. Oh well, down the hatch!" She exclaimed downing the contents of the blue can Kero floated over and sniffed the can. "Hey, you didn't leave me anything! And after that mess on the day we caught Create too! Aura how could you!" He accused turning at the chimera. He paused and raised an Eyebrow. "Uh, Aura? Hey, hello?" He saw Aura with her head down and back bent a little, as if she was asleep or something. Kero flew over and tapped her head. "Aura?" Aura twitched her ears as her head bolted up and her snout pointed to the sky.

"I FEEL HIGHPER!" She exclaimed bouncing through the dump. Kero flew up at his master's sudden change in attitude. Aura bounded down the heap of garbage, bouncing a foot in the air with every 'step'. Kero and Jump bounced and floated behind her. "What's wrong now?" Kero muttered to himself.

Aura ran into the woods as the sugar and caffeine began to trickle into her mind. She began to wobble on her own four paws as the sugar began to mess with her balance. She giggled as she rolled over into the grass in the clearing. Kero and Jump watched as their master tried to clamber to her feet, without success. Aura laughed out loud and crawled through the woods. Kero looked over at the city, where she was heading, and more importantly the lake south of her, frozen over by the card swimming blissfully unaware under it's surface. There was absolutely NO way Aura would balance on the ice, and would only get herself hurt in the process.

Aura sat up and shook her head as the sugar, but only the sugar, was flushed out of her system, now only the caffeine was left in her, and no competition. Aura grinned and laughed insanely, starting out deep and menacing, but getting higher pitched into the mad and squeaky cackles of something like and evil hamster. She ran full speed through the woods, and changed course to the city. The grey buildings blurred together as her large paws pounded the ground in front of her. She ran on giggling like a maniac to herself. Kero flew above and stared as she charged at the city full tiger form. "What does she think she's doing?" He shouted. Harriss floated next to him. "Oh, that's the caffeine, she's not thinking straight, more like zigzags and loops. You should probably distract her by pretending, like a dog would, that you want to play. She is very hyper and acts like a puppy. Just pin her to the ground and don't let her up till her sanity returns." Harriss said before disappearing.

Kero transformed to his true form as he dove and Jump bounded in front of aura to stop her. Aura skidded to a halt and yelped, turning around back into the woods only a few meters from open ground and pavement. Jump bounced after her, herding her to Kero as best he could. Kero lowered his front end, and wiggled his tail high in the air, like a puppy wanting to play. Aura did the same and bounced at him with a mock growl. She pounced at Kero with a squeal.

"AH!" Kero cried out, surprised but her sudden strength. Aura bounced off of him and began to bat his head with her paw. Kero got up. "When does the caffeine wear off?" He asked aloud, receiving no answer. Aura growled and turned, racing for Freeze's lake. Kero moaned on the ground while his head stopped spinning. Jump hopped off after his master as she neared the lake.

Aura yelped at the cold ice, paws skidding as she slid over it. Jump landed on the sand and hopped onto the ice, using his claws on his front paws for traction. Aura wobbled on the ice as it blurred in front of her. Jump slid over and grabbed her tail with one of his hind paws. Aura tried to bite his paws, but slipped and fell on the ice. She scrambled and scrambled but couldn't get up a moment, then opened her mouth.

"Grawr!" She roared as a jet of fire melted the ice into a small pool of water. Jump shrieked and paddled for the ice as aura shot out to the other end of the lake. Aura cackled and tore to the woods. "Muahahaha!" She laughed slipping off into the forest.

Jump skated to the edge were she had gone and sighed. "Gone again! We'll never catch her at this rate!" He said.

Dash poked his head out from the bushes. "What the heck is wrong with Aura?" He asked.

Jump looked over. "We were dumpster diving for stuff and she found half a can of soda. She drank it and now she's hyper." Jump explained. "We can't catch her either."

Dash wiggled his haunches before darting off in the direction Aura's tracks went. Wow, they're both fast." Jump commented.

Aura sniffed around the woods and yelped when a drop of wetness hit her paw. She looked up to see a cloud floating over her head. She reared up on her haunches and poked the cloud. A little girl popped out and giggled, showering Aura in a sudden downpour. Aura shook her fur and held her mouth open as rain poured in. The Rain blinked in confusion and sat on her cloud puzzled for a moment, before she saw the moon on Aura's staff sail at her. She yelped as she was turned back into a card. Aura signed and released Rain, and enjoyed the shower. She tuned as Dash poked his head out of the bush. Aura yelped and took off again.

Aura sniffed around in an old junkyard-construction site. Steel beams, old boards, boxes, and other debris littered the ground in the dirty clearing. Aura sniffed around a pile of steel poles and I-beams. She crawled through the network of narrow tunnels and caverns created by the piles of junk, and began to burrow out a small shelter in the center of the pile. She began to fill in the gaps of the low roofed junkyard hut, like a beaver putting mud in its dam.

The room was now about five feet in diameter and a rough dome shape. The roof was full of sharp edges and a pile of broken glass was brushed against the wall. There were three tunnels leading out of the den, winding through the huge pile, one the way she ad come, one about a foot and a half away, and one on the opposite of that, about two feet up. She had a lump of almost soft stuff on the floor.

She scratched and burrowed in the dirt when she heard footsteps outside the pile. She crawled through her tunnel to the exit. A pair of large yellow paws stood at the hole she had come in through. She saw a black nose sniff the ground outside her shelter as it moved into the entrance.

Kero, Jump and Dash stood outside the pile of junk. Kero sniffed the ground and his nose went into a small hole in the junk, just lag enough for a certain small chimera too squeeze through. He stuck his nose in farther and was surprised at how well he could smell Aura.

"Yeoowwch!" He yelled pulling his noose out with a cry. He rubbed it with his paw and glared into the hole. A pair of tiny beady red eyes blinked from the tunnel. Aura slid a few inches closer.

"Meep!" She said.

Kero growled and reached after her. Aura scurried back down the tunnel, and curled up in the main burrow, about 24 feet in a curved path from the entrance. Kero roared and tried to dig her out, but couldn't tug any of the junk loose enough to get through. Aura lay her head down on her paws as her vision blurred even more.

"Meepy sleepy…" She muttered before she fell asleep. The caffeine was finally catching up to her and she was exhausted from all the running she had done.

"Kero…" Dash said as he walked to the entrance.

"What!" Kero barked. Dash looked up at Kero's scratched nose and the tunnel of junk to small for him to fit through. "Kero, why don't you just stand aside and let me fetch her?" dash asked. Kero snorted angrily.

"Why, you think you can tear this junk down?" he asked. Dash sighed.

"No, because I could fit." He said. Kero scowled but stood aside as the card wriggled through the tunnel, dodging the piles poles and wires that stood out like thorns from the wall. Aura may have thick protective fur, but Dash only had a thin layer for decoration.

He crawled into the tunnel and saw his master snoozing soundly in the burrow. "Well, looks like there won't be any more trouble for today." He sighed. Aura snorted in her sleep and began to purr.

((A/N: Does it seem like Rain was just jammed in there, cause she was… I can not believe I almost wrote my card captor fic and forgot the card completely!))


	29. Wind

The Wind

The Wind

Aura circled the sky over the clearing at the edge of the woods. The sun was just rising and she was hoping for an early breakfast before she had to go to school. The clearing was still and motionless, except for the wind rustling the grass and flowers. She circled once more and finally saw what she had been hoping for. A little nose poked out fro one of the burrows and sniffed the air hesitantly. Aura closed her circle as a small rabbit hoped into the open. She tensed up as she locked onto her prey. It hopped out of the burrow completely and went over to a small patch of grass. Aura closed her wings to her side and fell from the sky. Her tail feathers closed to gather for speed and she made small adjustments to aim at the rabbit. She flexed her claws and tensed her arms up. The rabbit saw her and bolted for its hole just in time. Aura flared her wings and flapped back into the sky with a hiss of disappointment.

Harriss sighed with her. "So close. It's too bad they don't give many air hunting tips in the books you read, huh?" She said. Aura nodded glumly. "Yeah, but at least thanks to them, I can at actually stay in the air." She responded. Harriss nodded. "Too true."

Aura landed on the tree branch next to her room window. "Kero, I'm back." She said sliding into the room. Kero smiled and floated over. "Hey, bad hunting though, right?" He asked seeing Aura return with empty jaws.

"No, I thought I'd eat the whole thing by myself so in the hour I was gone hunted, skinned, roasted and ate the whole entire thing. Of course the hunting went badly." She snapped. Kero backed off. "Whoa, sorry, I was just making sure. You have a tendency to hoard your food if I don't after all." He said. Aura grinned and ruffled the fur in her little companion's head. "Yeah, good point." She admitted with a yawn. She brushed her human hair a few times and dusted of her cloths. Kero landed on aura's shoulder as she reached for the doorknob.

Aura sat on the low brick fence that lined the house near her bus stop. Other children were talking and chattering among themselves about fifty feet away from where she sat. She was sketching a frog in the grass that sat a few dozen feet away from her in the dawn light. Kero gave a quiet low whistle as he saw the finished drawing. "You're pretty good at that." He said. Aura grinned. "Well, I am almost as old as you are, and I was actually awake most of that time." She said. Her head swiveled the street as she heard the low rumbling sound of her bus. The pair walked over as the yellow machine pulled to a stop.

Aura snarled to herself as another kid sat next to her, taking most of the seat. Aura shifted and pressed herself against the wall, trying to avoid any contact at all with the other human. The human turned to face her. "Hey there, how ya doin'?" she asked. It was one of those popular kids that were always bugging her. Aura's slight ridge of tiger fur bristled in annoyance as the girl scooted closer. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked, voice sounding like she couldn't care less, but was only trying to provoke the 'human' next to her into a fight. Aura's eyelid began to twitch and her claws grew slightly sharper. Kero noticed it though. "Aura, cool the shifting!" He said very quietly into her ear. Aura forced the fur on her back to lie smooth again as the bus pulled up to the school.

She walked off, balancing on the low stones that lined the flower box of the school, and well away from the other school kids. She sighed and looked longingly back to the direction of the woods as a soft wing brushed her face. Aura sniffed the air.

"Aura, I sense a card." Kero said.

Aura nodded slightly. "I can smell it on the wind." Aura trotted into the breeze, sniffing as she went. A teacher patrolling the grounds stopped her and told her to go wait for the bell with the other kids near the cafeteria. Aura turned with a small inaudible growl. She sighed. "Until it acts up or school gets out, we have to-" She didn't get a chance to finish as the girl from the bus sat next to her. Aura ignored her a moment, until the irritating human scooted closer, actually making contact with Aura. Aura snarled and scooted farther down the bench, but it scooted after her. Aura scooted to the very edge, and then the idiotic pup crossed the line and actually sat on Aura's lap. Aura hissed and pushed it off, standing with a snarl. The human tried again and Aura lashed out faster than any of the human's eyes could follow. Her paw changed to that of her tiger form, with the tiny but razor sharp meat hooks out. The claws slashed the human's cheek and left five long gashes. Aura hissed and struck with her other paw. The human screeched and tried to fight back. Aura ducked her head and curled her large paw into a fist, slamming it into the human's gut. One of the morons from Devin's gang tried to take a swing at her.

Aura whipped around, snapping at last. Her tail flew out of her belt and struck a hard blow to his head, sending him staggering back from the blow. Aura roared as her fangs extended, sinking into the girls arm as she tried to attack again. Aura swung blows until she saw a gap in the herd of humans. She coiled her muscles and sprang through it. Her claws came out and gave her traction as she dropped to all fours. She turned around a corner, and hidden by the library building summoned her wings. She beat her blue and grey wings as she took to the sky. She circled behind the building once for altitude before disappearing into the early morning fog. The teacher ran around the corner looking for her, but she was already snarling at the heads of the humans below.

Aura turned to Kero as he flew beside her a few minuets later and asked him, "Kero, you said once that captors were chosen by you, on whether they would be could masters or not, right?" she asked. Kero nodded. "So, why did you choose me of all people? I mean, I'm a just short tempered mutt with no cash or snacks, I hang out with wolves more than the species I was built to blend with most, and on days like this, I just want to lay back and let the cards have their way with things as far as the humans are concerned. Just, sit back and let it go, laugh for the woods and watch the city burn. Watch the mighty humans crumble by their own species creation, and watch it with my pack, just laughing and letting go. Why the H did you pick me to be master?" She asked. Kero thought for a moment.

"Ya' know, looking back, I have no idea at all!" He said cheerfully. "But maybe it has something to do with the fact that as tempting as the idea is to you, and I can understand it would be, you don't actually let the cards do any real damage." Ha said. Aura smiled as she dropped onto the tree branch and opened her window. " Lock?" she asked quietly as she felt the window empty of the card. She saw the doorknob wiggle and turn. Aura stowed her wings as Kero turned back to his true form as aura grabbed the Sakura book in her paws. Kero also saw her pick up a black cloth with a gold chain and red jewel on it, and that all the cards that normally hung around in her room all day had reverted to cards in the book. The door opened and Devon strode in. He jumped as Kero roared at him, wings stowed, but still taking up most of the room.

"S What the F Is that!" He screamed hopping back out of the room in a panic. Kero rushed and slammed the door shut, using his weight to hold it that way as the scumbag tried to barge back in. Aura grabbed her few positions and bundled them in the black fabric. She opened the window and flew out, and once Kero was sure she was clear, sprang out into the air after her. The thugs barged in with a few shots just as they reached the rising fog line. Aura panted and cringed as her keen tiger ears picked up a string of cussing. The two flew to the woods as Aura landed and began counting the cards. "They all returned, even if they don't stay in my room. How did they all know to get back in the book?" she asked aloud, as she walked through the woods. Aura sat down in the wolves cave, digging a pi tin it and burying most of her stuff. Kero tilted his head to the side.

"It's because this will be too much weight to travel wit, all I'm bringing are the cards and my cloak." She said, putting on the black fabric. The cloth was shiny, like silk, but had a more cotton like feel. The gold chain held it around her neck and a red stone, smooth and transparent sat embedded in the gold. The jewel was almost fist sized and Kero jumped when Aura put it on. Aura smirked. "Let me guess, you just felt a huge power surge once this stone touched me, right?" S he asked. Kero nodded. "That's cause it amplifies my natural alchemic power, the type of alchemy from my home world, not the type here. Mine is almost like magic, but it has to obey a few natural laws." She explained.

Kero and Aura walked out of the cave as Aura floated into the air. She perked up. "Before we go, let's catch the card from earlier, shall we?" she asked flying to where she sensed it the strongest. Aura hovered in the air as it stirred; a small whirlwind blew around her. Kero perched on her shoulder. "It's the Wind card. Be careful, she's one of the four elements." Kero said. Aura rolled her eyes. "Be careful, gee I think I'd rather be blown around and get myself killed instead, of course I'm always careful!" she said. Kero sighed.

Wind began to swirl in a tighter circle, and revealed herself. Aura drew out her staff as wind floated there. Aura sealed the card and signed her name. "Wow, that was easy, she didn't even try to fight!" aura said in surprise. Kero nodded. "Wind is one of the gentlest cards in the deck, she hates fighting and would never try to hurt anything. I'm not surprised at all." Kero said. Aura nodded and released Wind. She turned to Kero.

"So, if you have any ideas where to go to hide from the local humans, I'm all ears, otherwise we have to move elsewhere, and far too, they can't find me." Aura said.

Kero nodded. "We can leave, I didn't tell you, but I haven't been able to sense any cards except Silent around here, they're all farther west, much farther west. It's as if they all returned to Asia or something it's so far west." He rambled. Aura shrugged. "Suits me." She said.

" So, Aura, how do you plan to cross the ocean if you plan to go west?" Kero asked. Aura grinned and held up the book. Wind flew under her wings, making her able to glide and hardly ever flap. "My friend, I have Earth, Freeze, Fly and Float, why would I need to worry? I can rest a bit on any of them! What I'm worried about is food and water; it's a deep ocean with few fish, no food and all. The water's all too salty to drink salty. I do have rain though, and does Wood by any chance make trees with fruit? I hate not having meat, but survival is survival." Aura rambled. Kero thought a moment. "No, I don't think wood gives fruit, but rain can give water and you do have places to rest." He admitted. Aura grinned as the first whiffs of sea air tickled her nose. "Well, let's go eat something before we leave then, okay?" she asked with a grin Kero grinned too.

"Oh yeah!"


	30. Wave

The Wave

The Wave

"No, you should have come from below. You need to think 3-d Aura." Kero said as they flew over the ocean. To pass the time, Aura had the bright idea to practice air combat maneuvers with him. Kero had more flying experience, and with Aura not used to being up so long, he was starting to win on occasion. Aura nodded and panted. "I think it's just going to take time before it's automatic to do that." She said as she flapped her wings in the hot ocean air.

Kero nodded. "Aura, maybe we should take a break soon, you look kinda tired." Kero said. Aura nodded. "Yeah, we should. I'm roasting, so I'm just going to use Freeze instead of earth, okay?" She asked. Kero grinned. "You read my mind." He said. Aura drew out her card and soon a nice cool landing patch was drifting in the ocean current. Freeze swam under the patch, making sure not to let it melt. Aura flopped onto it, with her winds spread out over the cool shiny surface. Kero lay on his back, wings stowed, with his soft tempting furry tummy facing the sky. Aura saw the fluffy guardian furry tummy and couldn't help herself.

"AH! H-hey! That tickles!" Kero shouted as his master began to rub his tummy. Aura laughed and began smoothing the fur back. Kero sighed and rolled onto his tummy so she would leave it alone. Aura sighed and sat down on the ice. Her stomach growled loudly.

"You sure there isn't a card that makes food?" she asked. Kero nodded. "I wish there were. I really do, but there isn't." He said, reverting to his borrowed form. Aura raised an ear. "Why are you going small?" she asked. Kero rolled over on the ice. "We need to save energy, so I'm using my small form because it doesn't use nearly as much." He said. Aura nodded. " Good plan."

Aura and Kero sat asleep on their little ice flow. Freeze pushed it along with his nose as they rested. Change was sleeping on Aura's flank, basking happily in the warm sun. Freeze paddled along west, leaving a trail of ice in his wake. None of the other cards were out during the journey, and the book rested on the ice flow. Harriss sighed. "Well this is going to make a great fic, all about floating in an ocean." She said. Unhappily. Freeze looked up. "Harriss? I was told of you. Is that back round music?" Freeze asked. Harriss nodded. "Not a very encouraging piece for sea travel on ice, but I like the Titanic movie so…" she trailed off. Freeze chuckled. "Mastress was right, all you care about are your stories then?"

"That's not true, it's just a high free time priority. Great to blow off steam too." She said. Freeze nodded as she vanished. Aura stirred and yawned.

"Was that Harriss I heard?" she asked. Freeze nodded. Aura curled back up on the ice flow. Change let out a groggy 'Blaahh' and got up. Freeze pushed the ice through the ocean. Change slid onto the remainder of the ice flow and looked at his reflection on the ice flow. Aura cracked an eye open as Change tried to focus on the blurry image. 'Oh no…' She thought as Change opened his mouth.

Change stuck his tongue out to greet the blurry image. Freeze poked his head up to watch as Change tried to pull his tongue back. "Blahh! Blah!" He cried out in surprise when he found it stuck. Aura tried to smother an amused grin as she dragged herself up. Change looked helplessly up at her.

"I stuck." He said. Aura chuckled. "I can see that. Freeze, would you mind returning to a card while he melts his tongue free?" Aura asked. Freeze returned to the book in a beam of light. Change sat on the floe watching his tongue thaw. Aura shook herself to wake up and walked to the edge of the floe. "Come on Kero, want to go for a swim?" She asked slipping into the calm waters. Kero grinned. "Awright!" He walked backwards and charged. "Cannonball!" He shouted making a huge wave. Aura and Kero swam along side the ice flow, playing games in the ocean as they went. Aura dove below the surface with her second eyelid up to protect her eye from the salty water. Kero splashed around in the water trying to find her. She rose to the surface and squirted a blast of ocean water at him from her mouth. Kero spluttered and tried to catch her, but she dove again.

Aura swam quickly down, but stopped when a strange current started to brush her feet, wrapping around them like a serpent would a mouse. She kicked to the surface as her instincts warned her of coming danger. She slipped out of the sleepy grip, bobbing to the surface and paddling over to Kero. Kero was looking around the waves wearily as he also sensed something. Aura climbed on Kero's back as he reverted to his true form. She sniffed the air.

"Stupid jay' water, I cant smell a thing with this ocean air. D'arvit! This is why I live inland!" She said. Harriss floated around. "Be that as it may, please watch your mouth, I'm running low on substitute words for the story." She said. Aura turned and hissed at the somewhat annoying author. "Whoa, okay, not the time, got it." She said disappearing. Kero tensed and turned in the water, but saw nothing. Aura clung fearfully to his wet fur. The water began to churn all around them. Aura tensed up as a whirlpool began to swirl next to them. Kero turned and swam away, but Aura yanked his fur, making his head turn back. "The cards! My cloak!" She said. Kero swore under his breath turning to the melting ice flow. Change wriggled fearfully, trying to get his tongue free.

"Change! Hold onto the cards! And my cloak! Don't let go we're coming! Don't panic, okay?" She asked as Kero fought the current to get to the shrinking ice. Aura reached out at Change, but the current changed, dragging him past. "Eeeggpp!" change cried, unable to say help right. Aura tried to steer her guardian to the trapped card, but the currents kept dragging it away. She turned to the center of the whirlpool as it tried to drag her over. She looked at the ice, still at the edge. She thought a moment. "Kero, a card?? " She asked. Kero struggled in the water with his steel armor weighing him down. He struggled to lift his mouth up. "Wave card, gotta Cough Get it at the center!" He said. Aura nodded, slipping off of the guardian. Change was beginning to panic now, tugging at his tongue. Aura paddled to the heart of the current, drawing out her staff. The waves began to rise, trying to swallow her up. She took a deep breath and dove below the surface.

It was a mistake. Wave laughed and tugged her feet, awake and alert now. Aura tired to get back to the surface, but the current was too swift to break through. She kicked and clawed the water, trying o get free. She snarled and opened her mouth. A jet of flame burst into the water, along with the last of her breath, but it had the desired effect. The startled card drew back long enough for Aura to draw in some more air and get on the surface. Wave growled and stirred the waters up. Aura let loose flame after flame, as Kero tried to get Change unstuck.

Aura dove again, headed straight at the heart of the whirlpool. Wave sent out more torrents of water, but Aura stopped trying to fight them. 'Go with the flow. It's what the book said, go with the flow.' She thought, remembering one of her favorite books she had read and left back at the pack cave. The currents curved farter into the whirlpool, mixing with the main one. She raised her staff over a ball of swirling water in the center. She poked her nose up. "Return to the guise you were meant to be, Star card!" She said, swishing her staff. Wave roared as it was sucked back into the card. Aura bobbed to the surface with the damp card in her paws. The ice flow was all gone now. She looked around. "Kero? Kero?" She asked, turning in the water. Kero was nowhere to be seen. "KERO!" She shouted. Still there was no answer.

" This aint' good." Harriss muttered. Aura ignored her. "KEROBEROS!" She screeched. The waters were silent as the small waters churned around her, and white foam lingered on the surface. Aura tried to control the panic rising in her.

"KERO!"


	31. Mist

The Mist

The Mist

Aura panted for breath as she bobbed all alone in the ocean waters. "Kero…" She said weakly as the leftover currents swept her every which way. She floated helpless and exhausted in the waters she gulped for air as another wave washed over her snout. She spit out more seawater. It had been three days now, and Kero was still yet to be found. She was drenched and her coat was coated in salt and sweat. The sun beat down relentlessly on her head and neck. The winds blew sharp stinging droplets of water into her mouth and nose, making it hard to breath. Her stomach was empty and she was going mad with thirst, unable to drink a drop of the water trying to defeat her. Her paws splattered the water into the air as she swam away from the just setting sun. The waters churned and brushed her fur with more salty spray.

She looked longingly at a wandering albatross skimming the waters out of reach. It screeched and flew by, as if trying to taunt the weary creature in front of it. Aura let out a low despairing howl; a plea for help, and it was swept from her mouth by the fierce wind. Her paws paddled weakly in the water, and grew weaker by the minuet.

Kero stirred from his sleep. He felt hard rock under his paws. He looked and saw it was black, like hardened lava, and it was covered in bird droppings. Large sea birds perched on the rocks in front of him, watching him wearily. He looked around, but couldn't see Aura anywhere. Dash stood over him, looking worried. "Kero, you're awake? Are you okay? What happened to Aura? Change say's a current slammed the ice flow into your head real hard. You almost drowned, but a current dragged you up, and we and Fly came out and hauled you to this island. She screeched at those birds until they let us on the island. The ice hit you real hard, if it wasn't for your head armor you probably would have been killed." Dash said uncertainly. "It was nice armor too."

Kero blinked. "Wait, _was_ nice? What else happened?" Kero asked suspiciously. Dash looked a little nervous. "Well, we had to drag off all your armor to get you up to the surface, and we could hardly do it even then. Me and Jump did. The other cards were all too scared of getting wet, or said they couldn't help anyway." His voice was dripping with disgust. "Well, Freeze tried to, but he was too tired to escape. Then when Fly went to search for Aura, we couldn't- we couldn't find her anywhere." Dash looked at the ground. Kero saw the tears in his eyes as he said this. Jump sat limply on the rocks a bit off. Kero gulped and got up. Fly sat down next to him. "We couldn't find her, but she's strong, she won't just die on us, and now that you are awake, you can track her magic down." She said with a wave of her wing. Kero nodded and sat on the rocks, searching for any wisps of his master's magical aura. The wind ruffled the fur that used to be pinned by his armor. You could still see the flattened fur where it had been.

Aura paddled in the water. Her fur was heavy, her muscles begged for rest as her stomach begged for food. Her nose stung, rubbed raw by water and scorched by the sun. Her eyes were blurring and she could hardly see anymore. Harriss floated next to her. "Come on, Kero and the cards are looking for you as we speak, they'll be here soon, don't give up. Just keep swimming." She encouraged. Aura paddled weakly in the water.

A small bird was bobbing in the water a few meters away. Aura turned and swam at it. The bird cawed and tried to fly away, but you could se it had eaten too much to get out of the water. Aura lunged and bit it hard on the neck. She unhinged her jaw like a snake and gulped the bird down whole. She paddled through the water with her heavy furry paws. Her nose stuck up above the water and her ears lay flat against her head. She surged up again and raised her head above the water. She swam harder in alarm. A green mist was heading straight at her. She turned and swam away, but at her tired pace she couldn't outrace it. The mist crept around her ears and stung them. She yelped and dove under water.

Kero turned when he saw the mist below him to the left. He turned and watched as it spread over the waters surface. He squinted into it and saw a white striped shape struggling under the surface. He flew around, trying to figure out how to get past the mist to his master.

Aura held her breath and swam to the edge of the mist, but to her dismay it followed her. He lungs began to long for air. She dove down and tried to get away but Mist could still see her. Her lungs ached as she swam under the surface of the water. Mist laughed. "You can't escape, just surface and die!" Mist crowed. Aura repressed a whimper as he lungs began to scream for a breath. Her eyes stung and her vision blurred. Her limbs felt heavy, and she found it hard to keep her mouth closed. "I need air! I'm not going to drown, I won't die under water, I can't drown!" She thought desperately.

"Give up and surface, it won't be so bad! It's dissolving or drowning, make your choice." Mist coaxed. Aura made her choice, and paddled to the surface weakly. Her mouth broke into the mist and she gulped down the misty burning air. She floundered and screeched in the water, salty water and the corrosive air rubbing and destroying her lungs.

Aura let out another screech as her vision blurred. Her limbs went weak and limp, and she began to sink to the bottom of the ocean. She saw a blur of white and yellow launch a fire blast at the mist, as the card cried out in pain. Then… everything went dark and cold.

Kero let out another burst of flame at Mist, as Fire held the new mist at bay.

Kero folded his wings to his sides and dove beneath the surface, aiming for his dying master. He grabbed her scruff in his teeth and paddled to the surface. He launched back into the air with Aura in his teeth. The chimera hung limply, dangling over the mist and sea. Kero surged back to the ice flow Freeze had created for them. He set her down and sat, without nay idea what to do.

"Clear an airway first, then turn her on her side, see if she swallowed any water. I don't think she did though." Harriss ordered. Kero did that and looked down at Aura worriedly. The chimera lay still, then coughed a little. Kero nuzzled her and licked the salty water from her tender nose. She coughed and curled up on the ice. Kero petted her and made wolf like whimpers of encouragement. Aura opened and eye and gave a whine of thanks. Kero licked her shoulder and looked back at Mist. Fire held her back effectively, but water was a bad place for the battle. Kero grabbed Aura's scruff again and put her on his back. He jumped into the air. The two headed out to the rocky island and Fire followed at a safe distance, burning away and of the silvery green mist that tried to catch them.

Aura forced her body up and grabbed the key. She grabbed her staff and aimed it at Mist. Fire lured the card into close range and Aura swung at it. "Return to the guise you were meant to be… Star… card…" she said weakly. Mist growled and reverted to a card. Aura weakly signed her name on mist and Wave, now that she had a surface to do it on. She collapsed on the rocks with a weak whimper. "Don't worry, it's okay. Rain, get her some water!" Kero said as Aura blacked out.

Aura looked at the sky when she cam too. A light wind blew over her mated and uncomfortable She sighed and moved her ears around. Even that seemed like too much for her. Kero sat sleeping beside her. She smiled and nuzzled her head into his side, falling back asleep to the music made by the waves, the screeching birds and Kero's breathing and heartbeat.


	32. Storm

The Storm

The Storm

Aura woke up with the sun shining onto her face. Kero walked over with a bird in his mouth. He set it on the ground and pushed it to Aura with his nose. Aura purred and began to eat.

"Wow… You're actually… sharing food!" Aura said between mouthfuls. Kero nodded. "You look like you need it. How long were you swimming out there? You look like you could fall apart at any moment by now." He said. Aura looked herself over. It was true. Her once glossy thick fur was thin and dull. Her nose was tender and, most of all; she had lost so much weight she looked like she was anorexic. She turned back to the bird and finished eating it Kero sat down and began to lick out her fur while she ate. Aura purred harder.

Many of the birds were screeching at the carnivores on their island. Aura looked up for a moment, but ignored them. One of the angry birds dove at her. She hissed and snapped at it. The other birds looked ready to fight too. Aura saw the bird circle and watched as it dove at her again. She opened her mouth and let out a small burst of flame. The bird screech and and fell into the water to put out the fire. Aura snarled at the other birds and got up. "I'm going to try and round up as much food as I can, then we should leave, before these guys get any bolder." She said. Kero nodded. "I'll help." He volunteered. Aura grinned. "Good, if you hadn't offered I would have made you anyways, but its nice to have you volunteer." She said.

After catching three birds and an egg they set off again.

"Hey Freeze, is there a way you could freeze the food in the ice?" Aura asked as he swam around to make a large ice floe. Freeze nodded. "Put it on the ice, I'll swim around it and it will freeze." He said. Aura grinned as she saw the makeshift freezer. They boarded the raft and set out again. The ocean currents drew them west again. Kero lay asleep on the floe. Aura blinked and stroked his fur where he had lost armor. Kero lay asleep still as Aura continued to pet him. The card book glowed and Dash hopped onto the ice. "Aura, could you tell Jump to shut up and explain why you're having to keep him sealed during the journey. The rest of us are almost ready to kill him by now." Dash said.

"How close?" Aura asked. Dash sighed. "Well, in about a second you'll see." He said as the book wobbled back and forth. Jump shot out of the book into the air.

"Aaaahhhh! Ow! Yowch!" He exclaimed. Sword shot up after him and missed. Jump bounce to get away, but found himself once again unable to get any traction on the ice. He slid off the edge into the water. "AH!" He screamed as he fell in. Aura leaned over as the little pink shape beneath the water sunk, trying but failing to swim Aura dipped in a paw and snagged nothing but water. Freeze dove under the card and pushed him to Aura's paw. Her claws caught on his tangled fur and dragged him back into the air. She had one paw pinned Sword to the ground while Dash laughed a little at the scene.

"Sword, back into the book, Jump let me quickly explain this to you, kay?" she said setting him on the ice. Jump nodded as Sword disappeared into a light into the book.

"And that is why you have to stay in the book, like it or not." She explained. Jump hissed but got up to go back into the book. He tried to anyway. Aura looked down as she realized Jump's fur had frozen into the ice. Jump pulled and tugged but he was truly stuck. "Gee, do all that cards have a get stuck to the ice instinct or something?" she asked with a sigh. Jump grinned apologetically. Dash chuckled to himself and walked over. "Well, this is great, now he won't run off and he can cool down a bit." Dash said. Aura nodded and flopped down next to Kero on the ice. The two fell asleep as the ice floe was pushed along by Freeze at a steady pace.

Aura was woke up to a big furry hand shaking her shoulder. She looked up to see Kero sitting next to her in his borrowed form. "Hey, I think I feel a card up ahead, and I think I can see it too." Kero said. Aura stretched on the ice and yawned, then winced when her brain snapped on and noticed something. "Uck, frozen on one half and barbequed on the other." She moaned, rolling the side that was on the ice to the sun. She sighed and got up after her temperature evened out. "Well, any idea which card?" She asked. Kero nodded. "Storm, I think. Not the best card to face in the ocean." He muttered floating up. Aura slid into the water from the edge of the ice.

Kero flew out after her as she dove under the surface for speed. She started to paddle with her nose above water as they got close. Winds blew the water into large waves and sent water pouring down. Aura tried to get closer to the center, but the wind kept pushing her away. She looked up a Kero who could hardly stay up in the air with the howling winds. She yelped and dove fast and deep as a wave of lightning struck the water a ways way. She rose to the surface again even though she could still feel an unpleasant feeling of lingering electricity. It was like several long, thin, iron hot worms wriggling through her body. She flapped her wings and flew into the wind, out of the electrified water. She folded her wings into her body, steering with her arms and rode the air currents like she had read to in the underland chronicles. She was whipped over to Kero who was trying and failing to ride the air currents.

She opened her mouth and closed it around him. Kero screamed and Aura huffed. She flew to the edge of the storm and opened her mouth again. Kero darted out with a gasp. "HEY! What was that about?" he shouted. Aura hovered in the air as she explained. "You couldn't fly in all that air, and I read how. Luckily it worked, so I grabbed you out of the air anyway I could." She explained. Kero folded his arms and scowled. "I thought you were about to eat me, what if you had swallowed by accident or something?" The plush toy like guardian pouted. Aura shrugged. "I wasn't going to eat you, and if I had swallowed you by accident I could have coughed you up later anyway." Kero looked a little grossed out but nodded. Aura turned back to the storm.

"So how do you catch this card? Any little tips or something?" she asked. Kero nodded. "Try and get to the eye of the storm, then you should be able to fight her and catch her." He said. Aura nodded and flew back.

Aura coasted the violent currents with ease and soon neared the eye of the storm. She raised her second eyelid for protection from the salt water flying around like little needles in the eye wall. Some of her feathers were torn out in the wind and the stinging salt-water drops numbed all exposed flesh. She gave one surge of her wings and flapped clumsily into the storms eye.

Literally.

"Ouch!" Storm yelped as Aura's tail thwacked he in the face. "Sorry." Aura apologized. Storm scowled rubbing her eye. "What the heck was that for? I'm not even trying to kill you, why'd ya whack me for?" she asked. Aura hovered in front of the card. "It was an accident, I surged out of the eye wall but I couldn't stop in time to miss you completely. Thanks for not trying too kill me, it's a nice change of pace." Aura said. Storm shrugged. "Kay.

"Sorry, but I need to catch you real quick, then I'll let you go again if you behave. Deal?" She asked. Storm thought for a moment. "Well, okay. You'd better not be lying about that though." She said. Aura smiled. "Great! Return to the guise you were meant to be, star card." She said tapping Storm. Storm returned to her card form and the storm vanished. Kero flew over. "Wow, that was quick, how'd you whoop her that quick?" Kero asked. Aura grinned. "No, she's pretty nice, she let me catch her, no I'm gonna sign her and let her out. Com on!" She encouraged Kero.


	33. Bubble

The Bubble

The Bubble

Aura paddled through the water with Kero while Freeze rested in the book. Kero was carrying the book in his mouth while her swam and Wave was helping them swim faster. Aura looked over at Kero, still trying to get used to how he looked without his armor. 'Oh yeah,' She thought.

"Kero, what happened to your armor? You look like, well you look different without it." Aura said as she paddled next to him. Kero swam steadily beside her. "Well, when Wave attacked the ice was swirling around, and apparently it hit me on the head real hard. It dented my head armor and knocked me out. Dash and Jump had to drag me to land, but I was to heavy, so because my head armor was dented anyways they took off all of it and it sank to the bottom of the ocean." He explained. Aura nodded as best she could while swimming. On and on the two swam until Aura saw something encouraging.

"Look Kero, birds!" She said. Kero grinned. "Great! I'm starving!" He said. Aura sighed. "No, if birds are near then so is land usually. Though I am kinda starved too." She said. Kero grinned as they swam to shore.

"Land sighted!" Aura exclaimed as they swam. Kero paddled next to her and gave a whoop of joy. " Food! We can eat again!" He exclaimed. Aura surged ahead in the water. "Race you to shore!" She exclaimed, diving and coming up parallel to the waters surface. She moved her hind legs and tail back and forth, darting through the water like an arrow. Kero splashed into the air, trying to fly with damp water heavy wings. Aura surfaced for air and dove again, noting her huge head start. Kero began to fly better with his wings drying in the sun and wind. He began to catch up to his master as the land drew quickly closer. Aura surged ahead with excitement, and dove deeper into the ocean, skimming the seabed. She aimed up and darted to the surface at top speed, as fast as a dolphin would. Her snout broke the surface and she shot at least 15 feet into the air. She gave out a raptor like screech of joy before she fell back into the water.

Kero flapped quickly as he drew closer to the frolicking chimera. She swam with her back in the water and belly p as an otter might. Kero looked down to see why and yelped as a blast of water squirted into his face. Aura spewed out the last of her mouthful of water at her furry companion and turned back up again. She dove and darted to the island ahead. Kero snarled and darted ahead. He passed Aura and dove to the sand on the beach. "HA!" He cried as Aura dragged herself up from the water. She laughed and rolled around in the sand for a bit, soon looking like a glob of cat shaped dirt and debris. Kero laughed at he sight and lay down in the warm sand too.

Aura panted and got to her feet. Her nose was working franticly as she ran around the beach sniffing everything she could get her nose near. Kero reverted to his borrowed form, then lay down and rested in the warm afternoon sunlight. The sun was his element, his friend. It dried the salty water from his fur and warmed his cold fur. It tickled his tummy as he lay in it and soothed his nerves. He began to get drowsy as the sun warmed his tired face. Soon the guardian was asleep in the sand, in his soft plush toy like body.

Aura wagged her tail as she sniffed deeper into the woodlands near the beach. Her snout was buried in every new plant, and sniffing for any prey at the same time. She caught the smell of a deer and switched to hunting mode. She moved through the thick undergrowth and crept up to a small deer. Her ears went forward and she tensed u. She moved one step closer and darted out of the bush. The startled deer fled from her, and she gave chase. Her instincts guided her after a sick young deer. She ran behind it and lunged when it stumbled on a rock .She sank her claws into it and bit its leg. The young animal tripped and fell to the ground. Aura lunged for the neck and killed the wild creature. She sat back on her haunches and began to feast.

Kero lay asleep on the sand. The book as next to him. It glowed and Dash hoped out, followed by Jump. Jump sprang into the trees with a yell of delight. Dash scampered into the woodlands, following Aura's trail. Kero rolled over in the sand with a soft snore.

Aura gulped down another chunk of meat and looked around. The woods were quiet around here. There wasn't even a trace of smoke or smog from a city. Aura quickly climbed a tree and looked around. She saw a city upwind form her. She sniffed the air. Still no traces. Curious, she hopped out of the tree and began to run to the city. She quickly covered her kill in a layer of dirt to hide it.

Kero stirred from his sleep when he began to sense a card. He looked to the ocean where it was coming from. "Aura, you sense anything?" He asked. He looked around. "Aura? Aura?" Hello? Aura?" He looked around, but Aura was long gone. He got up and shrugged. "I'll just go look for her then." He said to himself. He took to the air and yelped as something brought him crashing to the ground again. Her felt a tickle and looked around. A wad of bubbled were beginning to cover him. He relaxed a little and sighed. "Oh, hey Bubble, what's up?" he asked. Bubble popped up at the top of the tower of suds. She leaned over and looked at Kero with a grin. "Oh, I can't complain, you?" she asked. Kero relaxed in the soft bubbles and shrugged. "Yes and no. We got a new candidate for master. She's nice enough usually, but she has some moments were I wonder what on Earth told me to choose her. Right now she happens to have disappeared. You seen her?" he asked. Bubble shook her head. Kero sighed. "That's what I mean buy those moments. When she disappears, next ting you know there's a big fight, and you can guess who started it." He said. Bubbled giggled. "It's not funny, Bubble." Kero said. Bubble giggled and ducked back into the tower of suds. Kero shook himself dry when he was put down again. "Bubble? Where'd ya go?" he asked looking around. Bubble slithered into the ocean and Kero saw hwy. "Oh S!" He yelped. It was too late too hid now. A girl walked down the beach, and was heading straight for him. She might have been about 16 years old. She was walking quickly at Kero. Kero looked around, but unless he wanted to reveal his wings there was nowhere to go. He looked up at the girl. She had brown pigtails and large brown eye that stared down at Kero with curiosity.

"Chau?" She asked. Kero gasped with recognition. 'Akane!' He thought. Akane bent down. "It is you Chau! How did you get here?" She asked. Kero blinked. "Chau." He said. Akane smiled and picked him up. "It is you! Chau! I didn't know cats lived this long! Mom said if I wanted I could get a pet, if I could take care of it! Come on Chau, you can see my new home!" she said cuddling him. Kero frowned. 'This is not good…' He thought as he was taken to the near empty remains of the city.

Aura padded through the empty streets of the ruined city. The place was now taken over by rats and birds, ass well as the occasional feral pet. Aura sniffed around and tried to map the city locals. She only smelled rats and birds and pets at first, but once the wind shifted she caught scent of a few humans. She looked to the direction the wind was coming from and quickly scaled a building. She began to hop the rooftops till she found a small human village in the city. The houses were in slightly better shape and there were more animals around. A small child was playing in the ruined street. She might have been four or five. Aura sat on her perch and listened to the area. She could see these humans weren't in the best health by now. She scratched at a small tick that had landed on her paw. She looked over as she heard more people coming to the area. A girl walked by under her, clutching something to her chest tightly. Aura watched as she went into the house. It seemed the group was asleep right now, so she left and headed back to the beach.

"What's wrong with you Chau?" Akane asked. Kero was searching for an open door or window, but they were all locked. Akane picked him back up. "Come here, we need to get you some food, you look hungry." She said. Kero relaxed a little bit, but still tried to find an exit. 'What do I do? What the H Am I going to do?' he wondered to himself.

"Kero? Kero?" Aura called out. The little guardian wasn't where she had left him earlier. She looked around and noticed as a tower of bubbled floated up. Aura drew out her staff and stared at Bubble. Bubble crashed down around her and plucked her up before she could react. Aura yelped and wriggled, trying to get away, but Bubble had her in her grip. Aura raised her staff and bubbled yelped. Aura sealed the card and fell into the water with a hard slash. Aura floated to the surface and grabbed the card in her jaws, trying not to let it get too wet. She crawled onto the sand and pulled a pen out. She signed Bubble. "Hey, Bubble, did you see Kero by any chance?" She asked. Bubble laughed. "Yeah, you should have seen the look on his face when the little human girl came!" Bubble giggled. Aura stiffened. "Did he get taken?" She asked.

"Yeah, she took him with her and it was cute!" Bubble said. Aura looked back in the direction of the city.

Kero sat with his face pressed against the window, dread written all over it.


	34. Maze

The Maze

The Maze

Aura prowled through the empty streets of the village, sniffing around as she went. Her white stripes had stuck out, so now she was covered head to toe in a layer of sand. Her nose picked up the scent of her tiny guardian. She came to the edge of one of the worst looking houses yet. She sniffed the doorway. "Kero's here all right." She said quietly to herself. She pushed her snout around the doorframe, but the door was locked. Aura began to prowl around looking for an easy way in. She tried the windows and he back door and got nowhere. She sat down to think then grinned as an answer came.

Kero was curled up asleep in a small blanket the Akane had left on the floor for him. He stirred in his sleep when he heard scrabbling around him. He looked around and saw a pair of tiny black eyes in the dark. HE stiffened as a rat stepped forward. He backed up slowly, but yelped when her felt fur on his back. He jumped back just as a set of teeth snapped at him. He was surrounded by rats on all sides. 'No way but up.' He thought. He looked up and swore to himself when he saw rats clinging to the rafters and old shredded curtains. The rats approached him and one lunged. Kero squeaked and tried to dodge, but the rodent had him outnumbered half a hundred to one. He screamed and swore when one of the vermin bit his bad leg where the moron had stuck a dagger when the whole adventure started. He punched at the rodents, but he was getting nowhere, and he was the only one in the room. He barley dodged another set of teeth.

'That's it! I have no choice.' He thought as his wings grew larger and surrounded him. The rats hissed and tried to flee when they saw their meal had turned from bite sized to a huge lion. Kero grinned and chased some of the rats back, snapping one unlucky animal was snapped up as a snack. He licked his lips and lay back down on the blanket with a satisfied grin. 'That should keep them away.' He thought as hey went back to sleep.

Aura fell into the room. She decided against shaking the chimney soot off, preferring to keep hidden. She walked over her sleeping guardian. She shook him awake. Kero opened one eye and yelped aloud. Aura hopped back. "Kero, cool it, I'm covered in dirt, but it's still me!" she hissed. Kero relaxed and got up. "Okay, just scared me, that's all. How the heck did you get in here anyway?" He asked. Aura twitched her tail proudly. "The chimney of course, now let's get you out of here Kero." She said. "By the way, just how did you get taken back here in the first place?" she asked as he changed back into his false form. He landed on Aura's shoulder. "A girl called Akane brought me here. The first time the cards got loose, about ten years ago, my second master and I got into a fight, and long story short, she picked me up and brought me home. She was nice but I had to get back. Soon she moved away and left me back in my second masters care." He explained. Aura nodded. "Who was your second master?" she asked. Kero opened his mouth then paused. "That's weird, I can't quite remember… I can't remember anything!" He yelped. Aura shrugged and turned back to the chimney, then froze.

Akane stood there with a shocked expression on her face. Kero tensed up. "Uh-oh." He muttered. Akane walked over hesitantly. Aura's tail tip twitched. "How long were you standing there?" She asked. Akane gulped. "After I heard Chau scream." She said. Aura raised an ear. "Chau?" She asked, looking at Kero. Kero grinned. "Well, what? You think I was going to tell her my name's actually Kero?" He asked. Aura chuckled. "Chau. It's even cuter than Kero." She said. Kero scowled. Aura turned back to Akane. "Sorry, but we got to go. Bye." She said as she scrambled out the chimney. Kero popped out right behind her. They flew along for a while until Aura landed in the woods.

"Well, now what?" She asked. Kero fluttered to the air while his ears were swiveling around. "Uh-oh, someone heard that and not the village is coming. Um… Akane's explaining the situation to them… and it looks like thay're angry… uh, we better run." He said turning around. Aura nodded and the two ran through the woods. Aura perked up and turned to a scent on the wind now. She ran to the area she had come from, and to her kill. Its scent was on the wind and being blow towards her. She galloped along and soon began to hear the villagers closing in, using the few cars that still worked. She turned deeper into the woods as she ran. Kero gasped and called out to her. "Aura! Wait!" He yelled. Aura skidded to a stop and turned. She yelped as a wall shot up and another ad another. Kero raced over and flew right next to her. Aura watched as walls began to flank her and trap her in. She looked around at the green mess.

"A card?" She asked. Kero nodded. "The Maze card. We're doomed." He said lightly. Aura sighed. "You say that why?" She asked. Kero settled down on her head and lay down. "Maze cheats, you can't fly, jump, keep a hand on the wall, or any other tricks. She always cheats and I can't remember what to do about it." He said. "That, and the fact I'm staving and there's no food or water." He said. Aura sighed. "Well, might as well walk around anyway." She said. She began to run around at a relaxed pace through the green walls. Kero stretched out and took a nap while she ran. She stopped when she picked up another scent in the maze.

It was the scent of another cat. Aura began to sniff and found it was gone, except for a little in front o her. She moved her nose and it vanished again. She began to follow the taunting trail through the maze. It turned and twisted and turned again. She was about to give up and go somewhere else when she caught a new scent. "She crouched down and began to spring forward at warp speed. Kero yelped and gripped her fur as he was jolted awake. "What's the rush, huh?" he asked. Aura growled and slowed down, coming to a stop behind Jump. The pink fur ball was unaware of her presence. She crouched low o the ground and pounced on him. He yelped and Aura ruffled the fur on his head with her paw. "What on earth are you doing out here?" She asked. Jump grinned smugly. "Kero isn't a good guard, he fell asleep and I just hopped out." Jump said. Kero laughed nervously when Aura turned to look at him. She rolled her eyes and snorted. The trio began to pace through the maze again.

"Kero, we are doomed, this thing is endless." She growled. Kero sighed in agreement and Jump snarled, hopping high into the air. The walls shot up around him, blocking off visibility. Jump fell back to the ground with a small thump. Aura sighed and stiffened as the maze began to twist and warp. "Oh no! Maze goes crazy when someone tries to cheat!" HE yelped. Aura shot out her tail, wrapping jump in it, and Kero clung to her fur. Aura dug her claws deep in to the ground and clung to it as the entire maze twisted into a huge 3-D maze with walls, floors and ceilings going any which way. Aura looked around and growled in annoyance. "Oh boy, that's not good." She said when she found herself sideways on a wall. Jump yelped and clung tighter to her tail. Aura turned and began to walk through the maze again. She perked her ears when she heard a frantic scrabbling. She turned the corner and saw more of the maze, and standing on the ceiling across a gap was Dash. Aura paused as he spotted her and began to whine for help. Aura paced the ledge and gaze at her trapped friend. "Help!" Dash yelled. Aura scratched the floor with her pas and sat down looking for a route to him, and finding none. She hissed and swiped at the floor. Kero fluttered into the air, recognizing a bad mood when he saw one. Aura roared and looked at the trapped card. Kero jolted back and bumped into a wall. Aura twitched her tail and swiveled her ears.

"D'arvit!" She barked. She began to pace again. Jump hopped over to the ledge and leaned over. "Whoa! Dash! You're on the ceiling!" He exclaimed. Aura paced back over to him and Jump turned to face her. He waved his stubby arms around when he realized he was loosing his balance. "Ah!" He yelped as he fell over the edge. Aura yelped and swiped at him, trying to snag her claws in his messy fur. She missed and jump began to fall.

Aura leaned over the edge and watched in fascination as Jump suddenly fell to the left. He landed on another part of the maze, hard on his side. Aura thought a moment and grinned, deciding to test a sudden theory she had. She stood up and grabbed Kero out of the air, tying his wings up gently in his tail. "Aura, what the h do you think you're doing?" He asked as she knotted his tail. She tossed him in the air once experimentally. "Testin' sumthin,'" She said drawing her arm back. Kero stiffened and began to wiggle. "Wait! Wait! Waitwaitwait!" He yelled as Aura threw him hard off the edge. Kero sailed screaming through the air and flew to the area of the Maze where Dash was trapped. Kero stopped flying forward and sailed up.

"Oof!" He exclaimed as his breath left in a whoosh from the impact. Aura jumped up in triumph, one fist in the air. "Whoo! I thought so1" She said. Kero raised his head and glared. "_Thought_ so?" He asked. Aura nodded and leaned over, giving Jump her paw and pulling him back to her ledge. "Jump, I need to borrow your powers for a second, okay?" she asked. Jump nodded and sat on the edge while Aura got ready to pounce across. She sprang forward and landed lightly on the other side. "Now Jump, you hop on over too!" She said. Jump hopped over and Kero wormed his way over to Aura.

"Yeah, yeah, now can you untie me now?" He asked. Aura let him loose and the group began to wander the maze, hopping from ledge to ledge until aura spotted the exit. The four walked into the woods again and aura turned to maze. "Return to the guise you were meant to be, Maze!" She said drawing her staff. Maze returned to a card and Aura signed her.

And that, is that." She said pocketing the card. She turned to Dash and jump. " Now you two, back into the book, we still need to keep going before the village catches up." She said. The cards obediently returned to the book, though jump did hesitate a little. Aura tucked the book under her arm and turned back to the beach. "We still need to get my cloak. Let's go." She said to Kero. Kero floated along with a protest. "Aura, just leave it, the village will be here soon, we don't have time to get it!" He whined. Aura turned to him without pausing. "I will not leave it for the humans to find. It's all I have left of him, and I will not leave it to be talked and ruined by some mob. Got it?" She said with a stone like glare. Kero tiled his head. "Him, who's him?" He asked. Aura shook her head. "Forget it." She said. Kero floated in front of her. "Who is it? Aura? Hey" He continued. Aura snarled and swatted him behind her. Kero was about to protest when he saw a small tear fell to the ground. He floated in the air and decided that maybe he should just forget it.


	35. Twin

The Twin

The Twin

Aura panted and paddled to shore. Kero helped pull her up over the small cliff on the shore. "Aura, why do you insist on swimming over instead of just flying? It would be quicker by air." Kero complained. Aura shook the water out of her fur and began to lick it to get the salt out. "Cause flying takes more energy and I don't know what kind of stuff I'm going to have to hunt down for food." The chimera said as she wiped her face with a paw. Kero sighed. "So now we're out of Japan, but where's that?" he asked. Aura shrugged. "Does it matter? As long as we trail the cards I couldn't really care less." She said. Kero nodded and returned to his borrowed form, perching on Auras shoulder. The two walked along the cliff with the water splashing the rocks every now and then.

Aura sniffed the air and grinned. "Looks like a good air current to fly in to me, what about you?" She asked. Kero spread his wings and floated up. Aura flapped a few times, jumping off the cliff and flapping into the cold high air. The two flew over the land. Aura scanned the woods below and started to circle. Kero looked down and saw she had spotted a hare in the clearing below. She narrowed her circle and dove. The hare saw her and began to run. She adjusted her self with her tail and wing tips.

She grabbed the hare's legs with her front paws, tripping it. She flapped and pinned it, killing it with a bite to the skull. Kero landed next to her. Aura looked over as he lay down. "Kero, can you go start a fire?" She asked. Kero frowned and stayed put. Aura scowled. "You resemble a lion more and more as we go along, now you aren't wearing armor and you just sit there and expect to be fed. You go work for your share and get wood or I'm not sharing." She said. Kero scowled but stalked off to find some wood. Aura began to sniff around the area, making sure that nothing threatening was near.

Kero returned a little later with a mouthful of dry wood for a fire. Aura swept a large patch of the ground free of leaves and twigs, setting up some dirt around it in a circle and some stones on top. She dumped the sticks into the fire spot and blew a small jet of flame at it. Kero sat down and stared as Aura set the hare roasting over the fire.

"Earth to Kero, stop putting your face so close to the food, you'll get drool all over it at this rate." Aura said waving a paw in front of his face. Kero pulled his head back and wiped the back of his paw over his mouth. It was damp. "Sorry, it's just been a few days since we could last eat. Because someone insists on swimming." He said. Aura shrugged. "Any good lion your size could go at least a week before needing another meal." She argued. Kero scowled but dropped it.

Aura leaned back on a fallen tree and closed her eyes. "Kero, can you take first watch, if you do you can have an extra leg, Kay?" she asked. Kero nodded enthusiastically. Aura put her paws behind her head and dug her hind claws into the ground. Her tail wrapped around her feet and she fell asleep wit her face to the sun. Kero lay down and perked up his ears. He sniffed the air and stashed his wings. The breeze blew through the forests of bamboo. Kero looked up at the towering stocks. Aura began to snort while she was dreaming and her fangs grew out as she snapped softly. Likely dreaming of a fight. Kero looked over at the roasting meat. The wind was blowing the scent away, but it was so close it was still making him hungry. He began to reach for the food when he heard a soft growl from his sleeping master. Her claws tore into the ground under her, making large furrows in the dirt. Kero pulled his paw back and looked at the sky. He decided that midday would be a good time to wake Aura up.

Harris leaned against some bamboo and looked at the sky. "It's too bad this isn't something exciting to write right now." She muttered. Kero sighed. "In that case why don't you just go away?" He said. Harriss grinned and disappeared. Kero looked around again. He tensed as he saw a black shape slip through the stalks of bamboo Kero tensed and the black shape slid away through the forest. Kero relaxed a little but kept his guard up

Aura chased through the odds a pack of wolves ran with her, enough wolves to form half a hundred packs at least. Browns, gray, white, black, red, even a few strongly colored ones, yellow, blue, blue, and they all ran with her through a hilly grassy plain. A huge heard of deer, as big as the pack she ran with fled. A large buck swerved into the woods and Aura turned to chase it.

One wolf, brown with a black back joined her. Large yellow eyes shone excitedly Aura and the wolf ran side by side. He ran in front of the deer and Aura got behind it. The large deer fled and they chased it once more. The brown and black wolf stopped and gasped. Aura dug her claws into the ground and turned to flee.

A flood of human voices washed over her dream. There were shots and howls, and Aura ran back to he huge pack. Bodies lay all around, a few remaining wolves scattered and disappeared into the wind. Aura and the brown wolf ran. Aura struggled to keep up on her small kitten legs. She stumbled and felt the browns jaws around her scruff. The two fled and Aura relaxed, feeling safe in his jaws. She fell those jaws let go and yelp. An arrow stuck out of his flank and the wolf fell.

"Run!" He told her. Aura froze in horror, then turned to flee. 'NO!' Her mind screamed. She turned back to the advancing mob and ran at them. Her jaws snapped and her claws tore. She fought and fought, but the humans took her down, she slid into a small hidden cave and screamed as the wolf was killed by the mob. Her eyes widened when a human turned to her. Her raised a large dagger and swung it at her. She screeched and shut her eyes, swinging out with her paws and snapping with her teeth as she struggled.

"AH!" Cried out a voice. Aura opened her eyes to see Kero standing there, with a bleeding paw in is mouth. "Gee, let sleeping chimeras lie, huh? Next time you can just tell me to give you a few more minuets to sleep, okay?" He asked jokingly. Aura panted and relaxed. "Sorry, a fighting dream." She said. Kero shrugged. "Oh well, lunch is ready." He said. Aura perked up and grabbed the rabbit, tearing off one front and both hind legs for Kero. She gulped down the rest and spread her wings. Aura took off and then dove down again. "Kero, how many houses did you see around here when we came?" she asked. Kero thought. "One, why?" He asked. Aura looked over. "Then why is there a second one next to it that looks the same, down to the three missing shingles on the roof?" She asked. Kero got up. "The Twin card. It clones stuff. This is going to be tricky. Just so you know you have to capture both halves at the same time." He said. Aura spread her wings and took to the sky, scanning for the card as she went. Kero flew next to her.

"There!" She said. Two yellow child like figures bounced through the woods. Aura tucked in her wings and dove, drawing out her staff as she fell. "Kero, try and heard them over this way!" She ordered. Kero nodded and dove in front of them, blocking their path. Aura landed in a tree as Kero tried to chase the cards- card- the Twin her way. The pink hair bolted left and the blue hair went right Kero looked back and forth helplessly, the lion unable to chase both. Aura fell onto pink and pinned him. She sat there as blue turned to help. Aura tried to swipe blue, but pink squirmed free and they both landed on a tree branch. "You will never catch both of us!" They claimed. Aura looked up ad thought.

"You can't get us! You can't get us!" Two boys dressed in weasel furs jumped through the woods. A younger Aura, looking about 11, probably around 1500 years old chased on of the brothers down and pinned him. She dragged him back to an under ground burrow. "Tay!" the one that was still loose turned to get his twin. Aura pounced and pinned both of them down, tying them up with a vine quickly.

Aura's mind came back to the present and she grinned. "Oh, I can't huh? I've dealt with scampering twins before, a couple of my friends from several years back. I know how to catch them." She said confidently. The twins cackled and took off in different directions. "Kero, go after Blue!" Aura ordered. She chased after the blue one. "Aura, what are you planning, we can't just catch one, we need both!" Kero shouted. Aura grinned and pulled out the Wood. "Wood, catch the blue twin!" She said. Roots shot up and snared blue's leg. The vines wrapped around him and he was trapped. Aura sat down and grinned. Pink glared. "Well, you gonna come over for pink?" aura asked. Pink glared. Blue hissed. Aura shrugged. "Strongest, swiftest, or smartest survive." She said. Harriss sighed. "I can't say I approve Aura." She said. Aura scowled at Harriss and turned back to the angry pink. She raised her staff to the twins. "Return to the guise you were meant to be, Twin card!" Aura said.

Kero and Aura sat on the shore watching the waves. "Aura, why did you do that, it seems like taking a hostage to me. I have to say I agree with Harriss here." Kero said. Aura sighed. "It always worked before, and if you disapprove that much you want me to let them go again?" She asked. Kero growled and walked over the edge of the clearing to sleep for the night. Aura blinked and sighed. "All right, I'm sorry, but I lived in the woods so long, I'm used to survival of the fittest and victory be any means needed. I have limits but taking a guilty hostage isn't. An innocent one yes, I draw the line at that. But I had to catch both of them, and because I would catch both anyway, I thought it would be okay to use one as bait." She said. Kero sighed. "Point taken, but I can't say that I agree." He said as he fell asleep.


	36. Through

The Through

The Through

Kero and Aura flew through a thick fog. Kero yelped and Aura heard frantic flapping. She looked over and saw a blurry gray outline of her guardian. She slowed to a halt and hovered. "Kero? What's wrong?" Se asked. Kero flapped to a stop next to her. "I almost ran right into a mountain! I think we should land until the fog clears. I can't see a thing around here and I can't imagine that you're doing much better." He said. Aura grinned. "That, my friend, is where you're wrong. I am part bat and therefore I can use echolocation to find my way through the fog and not run into anything, but I forgot you don't so we could land and wait." She said.

The pair landed and tucked their wings away. Aura walked over toe Kero and wrapped her tail around his paw. "It's even worse down here, you probably need some help to find a flat spot to rest, right?" She guessed. Kero nodded and followed her through the rocky mountains. Aura let out clicks as they went/. "Aura, you said you were using echolocation it the air, but I didn't hear any clicks, how did you do that?" He asked. Aura grinned. "I was flying that loudly for a reason, I usually fly as quiet as I can after all, but wings make enough noise for me." She explained. Kero walked along behind her. He almost ran into her when she stopped. "Stick as far as you can to the right, there's a huge cliff on the left and I wouldn't suggest falling. It's far enough to have a bad fall, but high enough you can't get into the air in time." She said. Kero gulped and stuck to the rocks. Aura stopped after a while longer. "Kero, I just found a nice cave around here, want to stop and rest?" she asked. Kero nodded and followed the tail into the wall of rock. He walked easily over the smooth dirt and rock. Aura could be heard scuffling around a moment before there was a flopping sound. Kero also lay down for a nap.

Aura swam through a huge river. She smiled as the gentle stream's current washed over her back. Her paws moved her through the water quickly. She dove down and swam under the surface in the strange golden water, never needing to breath or rest. The water was just right and seemed to cushion her as she swam. A bird could be seen in the waters reflection. Aura surfaced and paddled to the rivers edge. The blue falcon dipped his head to greet her. He was the same size as Aura and wore a necklace around his neck. It had five blue stone feathers, and the largest feather, in the middle, had a streak of red running through it. Aura licked her brother's beak. He gave a soft click and nuzzled her back. The two began to play care free in the water. Suddenly her brother looked up and gave out a screech. He flapped into the air and aura felt the current pick up. She swam for shore and found it far far away. She floundered in the speeding whirlpool and looked to the sky, but her brother was gone and the warm wooden sky was black as a cave. She gave out a screech for help, but only echoes came back. She thrashed in the water and tried to reach shore. Her fur felt heavy with water and she screeched again as a wave came at her.

"Tseeer!" She screeched. Kero bounced back from her waving paw. Aura panted and looked around. 'Again with the nightmares, why? She wondered to herself. Kero walked back over now that Aura had calmed down. Aura retracted her claws and stood up on her paws. The fog had cleared up so it was almost gone now. Kero looked over and walked out of the cave, with Aura behind him. The two flew into the air and soared on the breeze. Kero looked over at Aura. "Is it just me, or do you seem to be having bad dreams more often lately?" He asked. Aura looked over and sighed. "You're right, I don't know why, but I have." She admitted reluctantly as she flapped her wings again. She reached behind her and pulled her I pod out of nowhere. Kero raised an eyebrow. "I thought you left that at the wolfs cave." He said. Aura grinned. "Nope, brought it along." She said. Kero tilted his head. "How could it still possibly work? After all that swimming?" He asked. Aura grinned. "That's a secret." She said turned on Doubt & Trust. She began to hum along to the piano and then sang as she flew. Her wings fell into a fast steady beat along with the beat of the music. Kero scowled. "Aura, I can hear it form here, a bit loud isn't it? Aura? AURA!" He yelled. Aura continued to fly along, occasionally skimming the air for a held out note and giving an extra flutter when it sped up. Kero sighed.

Kero scowled when Aura started to alternate between humming, singing it in Japanese like it was, in English when she had memorized the lyrics, and, for some reason, Klingon.

Owari mo miezu jiH qet through

Peace is distant, nargh pagh

Kodoku o fuujikomete tozashikakeru manazashi

This continued for several minuets. Kero waited for the song to end, then growled when Aura pushed the back button and continued to listen and sing along to the song in many languages. Kero growled. "AURA! Pick a language to sing along with your song in and stick with it! Quit switching languages, it's confusing!" Kero shouted. Aura remained oblivious through her music. Kero reached over and tugged her ear buds right out of her ears. Aura yelped and glared as her music flew away. She flapped after Kero and tried to snatch her music back. Kero turned it off and threw it back. Aura scowled and put her ipod back from where ever she had gotten it. Kero looked over. "Aura, you shouldn't have your music up so loud, you can't hear a thing. It's dangerous." He said. Aura looked over at him and yelped. "Look out!" She yelped. Kero turned around and screeched as he saw a rock coming at him. There was no time to turn. He squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself. He waited, then opened them. He was on the other side of the boulder.

"What?" he looked around as he landed. Aura landed on the rock and stared. "Kero, how did you go through the rock?" She asked. Kero put a paw on the rock and grinned. ''Thanks Through." He said. A girl poked her head out of the rock. She smiled and waved at Aura. Aura waved back. "Hey. You a card?" she asked. Through nodded. Aura raised her staff and through sank back into the rocks, hopping out and sinking into the ground a little. Aura sealed Through and signed her name to the card.

Aura nabbed her ipod back and turned on another song. Kero groaned as love shine was sung in Klingon, Japanese, and some English. "Isn't Klingon an ironic language to sing a happy song like that in?" Kero asked as they flew along. Aura kept singing along.


	37. Sweet

The Sweet

The Sweet

Kero and Aura headed southeast over the Yellow Sea. Flocks and flocks of birds crowded the area. Aura and Kero were well fed on poultry and the occasional fish. The place was full of food for them, birds and fish everywhere. Aura looked around. "I wouldn't mind swimming for a bit, my wings are getting really tired." She said. Kero nodded and the two dove down into the water, scaring several birds into the air at the same time.

Aura dove down and began to move her tail and hind paws back and forth. She slid under the water easily, slowing her pace to match Kero's. Kero paddled along on the surface, humming to himself without realizing it. Aura surfaced for air and heard. She began to hum along with him.

Kero stopped humming and scowled. "Great, you have succeeded in getting that stupid song stuck in my head." He growled. Aura hummed and grinned, diving back under the water. Aura swam along to the music in her head, diving deep down, half way to the bottom, before turning and swimming up like a rocket. She straightened herself out to a torpedo shape and shot out of the water. She screeched like a bird of prey, opening her wings a moment and skimming the surface, before closing them and diving down again. Kero watched as she dove, surfaced, and dove again.

Kero was felling a little bit of a mean streak he picked up from Aura just then and he began to fly over her. He slowed down and she shot up in front of his snout. He grabbed her tail as it shot past. She yelped and fell back into the water with a splash. Kero let go of her tail, flying out of range when she surfaced. Aura swam along on her back growling. Kero laughed and circled.

Aura watched him in the air and grinned. She opened her mouth and set a small jet of flam at him. Kero yelled and floundered in the air and lost altitude. Aura swam over and grabbed Kero's tail, dragging him into the water with her. Kero spluttered to the surface and Aura cackled. He swam along and splashed water at her. She yipped and twisted in the water, dousing Kero thoroughly with water.

The pair went on like this, splashing each other and being splash until Aura looked around and stopped laughing. Kero looked around too. "Kero, where are we?" Aura asked. Kero shrugged. "I dunno." He said truthfully. Aura looked around and dove down, darting to the surface like a torpedo. She popped up into the air and looked down. Kero wondered what she was doing until she surfaced and began swimming a bit to the right.

"Where are you going?" Kero asked. Aura looked over. "The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so it's just before noon, so my shadow should point west and I can figure out everything else." She said. Kero nodded blankly and swam next to her.

Aura slowed down a while later. "Kero, I'm getting hungry, I'm going to go hunt for a while." She announced, diving down. Kero flapped into the air, partly to stay out of Aura's way and partly to distract nearby birds. Aura swam under the birds, noting they all kept their heads to the sky. She picked out a fat one in the flock, with the sun over its head, and swam to it, diving deeper down as she approached. The bird never knew what hit it.

Aura exploded into the air with the bird squawking helplessly in her mouth. She crushed its skull with her teeth, landing back in the water with a splash. She swallowed the bird in one gulp and then saw Kero's worried expression. "What…." She said.

"Aura, you had more than a bird in your mouth there." Kero said looking a little sick. Aura floated in the water on her back. "More than a bird? I didn't taste anything funny." She said. Kero gaped.

"You couldn't taste THAT! You just swallowed a card!" He yelled. Aura was startled. "A card? What card??" She asked poking her stomach. Kero looked almost at a loss for words. "The Sweet card, you didn't taste that! You ate one of the cards and didn't even notice?" He asked in total disbelief. Aura began to make gagging noises and opened her mouth, twirling on to her stomach and keeping her mouth open. Kero watched as she stopped, and out slid a wet, slimy, yellow puffball, about the size of a golf ball.

Sweet raised her arm and looked at the goop dripping off them with a revolted expression. Aura flipped onto her back again. "Sorry." She apologized. Kero picked up the poor card in his paw. "I still don't see how you couldn't taste that." Kero muttered. Aura looked at him. "And I can't understand how you could either. A dominant part of me are cats, and cats don't have the ability to taste sweet things, I can sort of taste, but it's my weakest sense so I don't pay much attention to it. It's almost non existent." She said. Kero blinked. "Wait, cat aren't supposed to be able to taste sweet things?" He asked. Aura nodded. "Read about it twice, different reliable sources." She said. Kero made a confused whine sound and dropped into the water.

"Come to think of it, if I could taste any better I'd probably be dead by now." She said. Kero blinked. "Why's that?" He asked. Aura looked over. "Well, remember in the rematch, how my foot got caught in that net and I had to chew it off so I didn't drown?" She asked. Kero nodded and winced at the memory. Aura continued. "Well, anything and everything that's ever bit me hard enough to draw blood tells me that I taste awful, in some wording or other. If I couldn't have tasted how bad I'm supposed to taste I might not have been able to chew fast enough" She said. "And then I don't always have a good place to hunt so I will scavenge for food if I need to. Some of that meat would have to taste bad enough to keep me from swallowing if I could taste it. There's worse, but I don't want to make you sick when I get the urge to add descriptions to it." She said. Kero sighed. "Thank you. Well, let's seal Sweet up… Where's the cad?" He asked. Aura looked around. Sweet had given them the slip while they were talking.

Sweet flew over the water, landing on the other shore. She looked over her shoulder; pleased to see she hadn't been followed. She began to walk into the woods, to find a sign of civilization and sweet stuff.

Aura and Kero flew out over the water. "It's a good thing you can find cards so well from the sky." Kero said. Aura nodded, focusing on the land where Sweet had gone too. "So where would Sweet head?" Aura asked.

"Wherever she could find something sweet of course." He said. Aura ginned. "Well then, the first place we see a town we should find her. Cool!" She said. Kero followed her as she turned to the left a little and sped up. They could see some sliver of land ahead. It was covered in ruins of a dead city. Kero shuddered. "They really need to fix this place up a bit." He said.

The two landed in the shell of a city, completely abandoned, wiped out by the plague. "Wow, I didn't realize how bad the plague hit some places. Look at all this, when there were people, it must have been like a can of sardines, I was in a small lonely area when it struck, so it hardly touched where the town was, but in a city…" She trailed off. Kero nodded numbly. If this were a normal town, what would Hong Kong, the cards home and birthplace, look like? He felt dread twisting his stomach at the thought. He shook his head. They would see when they got there. Right now they had to catch a card.

Aura looked through the gray city. She had to secretly admit, she sort of liked it out here, and there were enough of the buildings left to give warmth and shelter, plenty of left over food too. She could feel small patches off vegetation growing over the concrete, and prey was moving in too. The air was clear and there were several good hiding spots. It was covered in places to hunt from, and the place had enough hiding holes for prey so they would stay. She smiled a little and pawed a patch of dirt, digging out a small hole. The worms were here, so the birds would come, the birds would make the rabbits feel safe, and the rabbits would keep the worms fed, so it would grow and then some predators would come. With all the animals the trees would grow from the worn down pavement and the place could someday become a nice forest. She looked around fondly.

She turned as she heard a small grunt. She crept up to Sweet, who was trying to open a candy bar wrapper. Aura walked over and swung a big floppy paw down onto Sweet. Sweet squealed and squirmed, but she was pinned. Aura drew out her staff and captured the card. She looked around again. "Kero, I'm going to let everyone out for some fresh air, okay?" She asked.


	38. Sheild

The Shield

The Shield

Aura's tail twitched as she snuffled in her sleep. Kero was in his true form, sleeping in the sun coming through the window. They had been headed south-ish and still found nothing but ruins. Kero was getting anxious to at least see a human around somewhere, but the void areas suited Aura just fine so he didn't complain much. They had been going through ruins for about a week now, and were close Hong Kong now. Kero tried to put thoughts of more ruins out of his head. He was probably just being stupid, It had to be repopulated I the plague had struck there to, it was a huge city, someone had to be there by now right?

Aura rolled over and started to growl and snort in her dreams. Kero never could figure out why she always seemed to have fights in her sleep. Aura gave out a muffled roar and thrashed around on the floor, with her claws scraping anything in reach. Kero walked over carefully and pounced on her, pinning her to the ground and stopping her imaginary fight. She cracked an eye open and looked up at Kero. "Was I fighting nothing again?" She asked. Kero nodded. "Yeah, what do you always think you're fighting anyway?" He asked. Aura relaxed and Kero go off her so she could stand up. "My fights? Never mind, it's nothing important." She said slowly. Kero sighed. "It sure doesn't look like nothing with all that kicking and clawing you always do." He said. Aura looked out the window.

"No, I said it's nothing, it's just a dream now." She said. Kero looked over curiously. "Now? Wait, so whatever it is wasn't a dream once?" He asked. Aura looked over with a glare. "Look, just drop it okay?" she said s she hopped out the window to the ground below. Kero sighed and followed her. The two started to walk along the streets with Aura sniffing for leftover food as they went. Jump hopped over.

"What cha doin?" He asked. Aura looked up then started sniffing again. "Looking for food. You seen any around?" she asked. Jump nodded. "Yeah! I saw a lot of cans this sway!" he said. Aura ran after Jump as he bounced to the left. They followed him into an old house and rummaged around. Aura looked over to a racket of clanking and clunking. Kero swatted and chewed and jumped on and flame blasted a can, trying to open it. He sat down and started to simply glare at it when Aura walked over.

"I take it you haven't found a can opener yet?" She asked plucking up the can. Kero grumbled something under his breath as Aura looked over the can. She put it on its side on the floor, pinning it in place with one paw. She opened her mouth and began to chew at the edges. Kero watched as she used her sharp cat teeth as a can opener. She spit out the lid and a little blood from cuts in her mouth. Kero winced as she started to scrape out the food with her paw. She took about three quarters of the can for herself, handing the rest to Kero. Kero looked into the can.

"HEY! There's hardly any left for me!" He exclaimed pouting. Aura looked at the mass of chicken on her paw and over at Kero. She raised her paw and opened her mouth wide, choking down her chunk in one gulp. Kero whined aloud. "Hey! Why can't you share??" He asked. Aura talked as she started to turn over the area for more food.

"I'm from the woods, it's eat what you can when you can get it, besides, and I thought you didn't even need food." She reasoned. Kero scowled and glared at her back as she nosed an old tabled out of her way. Kero gripped the can and raised a paw, chucking the can at her. She yelped as the can hit the back of her head. Kero stiffened and gulped, thinking that through a little to late. Aura whirled and glared at him, snarling and showing her long sharp teeth. Kero lowered his ears and rolled onto his back, showing his underside like a wolf that knew it had been bad might for the leader of the pack. Aura walked over and smacked a paw over his nose, chomped down hard on his right ear and barking like a dog. Kero yelped and grimaced as Aura walked back to forage. He rubbed his nose and walked out into the street cross-eyed and staring at his smarting nose. He sighed and flew over to the roof of a large house. "Why did I do that, stupid Keroberos, you should have known she wouldn't just ignore that. Next time, think before you throw, think before you throw." He scolded himself as he rubbed his nose lightly.

Aura walked out of the house, having eaten what she could stomach of the canned food. She scraped her tongue with her paw, trying to wipe the awful tastes off it. She walked back to where she had left her stuff. When she got there she looked around, Kero still wasn't back yet. She snorted to herself and shook her head like a horse would shake its mane. Harriss floated over. "Kero's sitting on a roof scolding himself for that, you should have split it in half. You still have lots of food right?" Harriss asked. Aura snorted and trotted over to the area where she had left her cloak and book. She reached for them and yelped as a black bubble appeared for a moment. She swatted at it and it flashed up again. Aura began to bat at it curiously. She poked it once more and looked around. It seemed she would have to find Kero to see what it was.

Aura hopped over the roofs, and closer to Kero. Kero was still rubbing his nose when Aura got over. "Kero." She said. He looked over his shoulder and lowered his ears submissively. Aura's tail rose up in dominance and shook her head over to the old house. "I think there's a card around here." She said. Kero got up and followed her back.

"It's the shield, you heave to cut it with Sword then you can catch it." Kero said after poking the card a few times. Aura did so and soon put the card in the book. The two packed up to leave and took to the sky. They flew for a while in silence through the cloudy skies.

"Kero, is it just me or is the sky looking like a storm's coming?" Aura asked him. Kero nodded. "Storm coming all right, we should find a spot to land and wait it out." Kero said. Aura nodded and the pair floated down to a bamboo-wooded area. Aura stashed her wings and sniffed around. They found somewhat sheltered spot to sleep at just as the rain started to fall. They watched the storm as it rolled through the sky. Aura sighed and put her head back on her paws, trying to catch a little more sleep.

Aura looked around the woods, bamboo like where she was now. She walked through the mist over the wet ground. She picked up the scent of a strange cat and turned to where it came from. She blinked in confusion when she found that this time it didn't fade away once she noticed it. She began to follow it and came into a clearing. Graves lined the clearing, nine of them. In the center of the site was a statue mad of plain stone. The gray figure sat watching over the land. It was a cat with a slender build, like a cheetah with huge leathery bat wings. Around the tail were tied two feathers. Aura took another step closer into the clearing. The statue jolted up, looking at her. The cats eyes were red with blue pupils. Her coat was light gray on the underside, with dark gray paws and back. Purple fur lined her eyes and she wore a silver armband around her left paw. It had a small purple stone set in it. She looked over at Aura and snarled.

Aura backed out of the gravesite and turned to flee. She remembered now what always happened in this dream and she didn't want to feel those claws in her flesh and teeth on her throat. She pounded away and panted in the humid air. The cat flew over her. "I am Aven, and you should not be here, I will kill all who come!" She shouted. Aura ran harder and harder. She heard the sound of beating wings stop and then felt claws in her back. She yelped and thrashed around, eyes shut in pain, trying to get in a position she could fight from. Aven snarled and bit into Aura's throat. Aura trashed and screeched, waiting for the dream to end. She screeched and tried to shake the cat off, without result. Aura let out a jet of fire over her shoulder, trying to get free.

"AURA!" Kero shouted. Aura opened her eyes and saw Kero pinning her to the ground with his claws. She shivered and went limp again. Kero got off her. Aura looked around the area, as the rain began to halt. Kero put a paw on her back again, preventing her from standing. "Aura, whatever you keep dreaming about is getting to be too much trouble, you were screeching and thrashing, if I had fallen asleep your claws could have done a lot of harm with all the thrashing you do. What is this nightmare that you keep having?" Kero demanded. Aura sighed and lowered her ears.

"I'm not sure, I'm wandering around in this mist and then I pick up this strange scent that I've been getting whiffs of, and usually it disappears, but now I doesn't so I go to check it out. I'm wandering through this bamboo forest and all I can smell is a cat and mist, and…" She tailed off and perked her ears. "And… I've been having this even before we left on this trip… The area I'm in when I dream is just like here!" She said. Kero blinked and looked around. "Well, why do you kick and scream so much about that?" He asked. Aura continued. "I get to this clearing and see a bunch of graves, and a statue of a ct in the center of the graveyard. I walk in to get a better look and the statue comes to life. It starts to chase me and it catches me easily. The statue's a cat that calls herself Aven and she attacks me. Usually I wake up right before I'm killed but this time…" She trailed off. Kero nodded.

"All right, I se why you keep thrashing around. But you say you've been having this dream before we even left, I think it might be trying to tell you something. I know you don't think so but I do." He said. Aura sighed. "Maybe… It's so real and it's just so creepy." She said. Kero looked around and got up. "Anyway, I'm going to go get some breakfast for us." He said taking off. Aura watched him sail off to hunt. She stretched and got up, looking around again. She jolted when she picked up the cat scent again, and it wasn't fading, it was getting stronger…She looked around for Kero, but he was a distant speck in the sky now. Aura turned to face the cat, but the smell was gone again.


	39. Shadow

The Shadow

The Shadow

Aura flew along with Kero in silence. The scent was still troubling Aura, and after she had told Kero what happened he was tense too. The two flew over the forest of bamboo, the long green stalks swaying in the wind. Auras wings flashed blue against the sky, and to gray black and white as she pushed them down. A cloud flew under the pair as they flew over the sky. The land looked like a gray and green maze underneath them. The clouds like a lake of white water. Aura looked around to see if anything was going wrong, but it was calm and quiet. She sighed and looked down at the ground in case of prey, but there was none.

Groooowwwlll

Aura looked over at Kero. Kero poked his stomach and looked down. Aura nodded and the two descended to the city below. Aura put her feet out and landed on an old roof, looking around for a place that would have leftover food. Kero flew on to look from the sky. Aura saw him land over in an old restaurant. She climbed down the building, and ran out to where Kero sat. Aura sniffed around and pawed through the old building.

She found an old refrigerator and looked inside. She perked up and wagged her tail. Kero looked up from his scavenging and walked over. Aura tossed him a triangle brown box. Kero ripped it open eagerly and began to lick the chocolate pie out of the box. He saw another land by his feet, and more and more. He looked up at Aura. She sat throwing the brown boxes his way, and keeping all the green ones. She dumped another apple pie in her mouth and tossed the box behind her.

"Only apple? What, don't you like chocolate? Oh that's right, you can't at it! I forgot!" He said. He dug into a second pie and began to purr happily. He looked up when he noticed Aura hadn't said a thing all morning. "Hey, something wrong Aura?" He asked. She looked up and sighed. "Nothing, I just have this stupid feeling like something's after me and I can't shake it. I keep telling myself it's stupid to get nervous for no reason, it burns to many calories needed for flight, but I can't relax." She said glumly. Kero sighed and nodded.

"It isn't nothing, weird dreams, weird scents only you smell, no wonder you're getting a little jittery. Perk up, find a way to distract yourself." He said. Aura sighed. "How?"

Kero thought for a moment. "Well, you've been around so long, maybe you know a story you could tell?" Aura perked up and thought. "Well, I do have one. If you want to hear it." She said. Kero nodded and lay down in the rubble. Aura began her tale.

"Once upon a time in a land far away there lived a girl. She lived in a mansion, but she was the maid and her stepmother and stepsister were always mean to her. They made her do everything and never gave her anything. She was miserable in the old house always doing chores and always being tormented." Aura began.

'Is this Cinderella?' Kero wondered.

"One day the prince of the land was holding a ball and he wanted all the noble girls to attend so he could chose a bride among them. The stepsisters were going, but they wouldn't let the girl come. They told her she was nothing more than a peasant, and this was for the higher class. The girl wept and cried, and moaned, 'Oh I wish I could go too!'

He fairy godmother then appeared and gave her an elegant dress, and shoes of fine fur. She soon looked like a proper noble girl and unrecognizable. She cried out in joy, and just before she left her fairy godmother told her she had to be back by midnight, because that's when the spell wore off."

Kero was baffled. Aura always said she hated fairytales, so why was she telling Cinderella?

"Now she got to the ball and the prince began to fancy her. They danced through the night and had a great time, until the girl looked up at the clock. She gasped, the clock struck midnight and she found her gown replaced by rags and her shoes of fox fur turned back into tattered rags. The prince drew back in shock and looked into her eyes. The girl looked into his.

"You have tricked me foul peasant girl! How dare you witch!" He cried. He struck her and flew into a rage. "Witch! Burn her!" He ordered. The girl cried out as she was dragged out. "Witches! All the women in this village are witches! Burn them all!" The prince cried out. The girls began to scream and panic. The prince locked them in the room and set it on fire, trapping them all!" Aura cried. Kero shivered. 'So this is her version then…' He thought.

"The prince began to burn all the girls in the village and so, on the outskirts of the village, the only true witch began to cast a spell and create a protection to hide her. She needed a dog, a griffin, and a lion. However, the village had no dogs at the moment and lions were not around. She used a wildcat form the cliffs and an old dog fang, and some griffin feathers. The spell went wrong though and a creature stepped out. It was a brown cat with long sharp fangs and brown wings, ragged and dark. It let out a hiss and turned on the witch, killing her in its jaws!"

Aura began to grin evilly as she continued. Kero shuddered as the warped fairy tale went on.

"It began to kill everything in sight, the villagers, livestock, and soon it turned on the prince himself! The prince drew his sword and fought with the mutated beast. He drew his sword across its throat and it fell to the ground limp. The prince turned his back smugly, but the creature got back up. Blood poured from the wound a moment and stopped, but the creature still came, shaggy fur matted with blood and dust. It let out a gurgle and leapt on the prince, killing him easily. Over time the cat wandered from the village, rotting and dead, but still moving. It killed thousands. It was described as a walking corpse of a beast, with red matted fur, thin and messy, flies crawling over it and maggots eating it away slowly. Its wings are coated in mud and flightless, with a trail of broken feathers falling from them. Its breath is rancid as its looks and it hasn't been seen around for ages. Maybe it rotted away, or it's hiding. Or maybe there aren't any survivors to tell when it's seen. Who knows." Aura said.

Kero's eye twitched and he looked like he could throw up. "Aura, something is seriously wrong with you…" He said. She cackled and snickered to herself. Kero sighed and finished off another pie. "Well, anyway I- Hey, do you sense that?" He broke off. Aura nodded, a card. "Still, wasn't that a nice change of pace from the old version? I like this one better." She said as they walked to the source of the magic. Kero sighed. "Aura, you're a freak, you know that right?" He asked. Aura gave a deep chuckle and drew her staff. The crescent moon lined up with its outline in the sky and the building cast a shadow over her. She grinned evilly, only her shiny white teeth and bright red eyes stood out in her shadow. She loomed over Kero and let out an Evil laugh.

"Yes, I know that all to well my friend." She said. Kero shuddered at the creepy sight. He tensed as he saw the shadow next to Aura shift. "Aura, that's the Shadow card! Dodge it!" He ordered. Aura looked over and hopped quickly away from the shadow that had sprung at her. She unfolded her wings and jumped high into the sky.

The card shifted below her and began to hurl rubble at her. She closed her wings and dove under a chair, opened them and did a barrel roll to the left to dodge a piece of the wall. She flapped hard and skimmed over the top of a table and flapped out of the way of the grill. She yelped as another chair clipped her wing and she fell. Shadow jumped out at her, snatching her hind right foot before she could get out of reach again. She flapped hard and twisted, but the card would not let he go. She whined as it pulled her down, creeping over her leg and grabbing her other foot. She yelped and began to fall faster, with her wings beating the air uselessly. She snarled and twisted her snout at Shadow.

A huge jet of fire blasted at the Card. The light pushed Shadow back. Aura shot back into the sky. She circled and began to fire flames at the card. Shadow squirmed and tried to escape, but Aura kept circling around and forcing him into a beam of light from the window. At last only Shadow's true form was left. Aura's staff flew down in an arc, tapping the card with the back of the moon. "Return to the guise you were meant to be, Shadow!" She caught the card as it fluttered into her hand. She landed on the rocky floor, falling onto her face. Kero bounced over and shook her shoulder. "Aura, what's wrong?" He asked. Aura reached weakly for another pie. "Food. Fire makes me tired. Need energy." She said. Kero opened the pie for her and started to shovel the apple and crumbs in her mouth. She gulped it down as fast as he could shovel.

Aura fell asleep next to Kero after signing the Shadow card. Kero patted her head and looked around. He reached out a paw and shoved another pie in his mouth.


	40. Flower

The Flower

The Flower

Aura and Kero lounged around on a skyscraper. Dash was having a race with Jump through the city and Aura was using shield to keep the bad thunderstorm outside from raining on them. Fire was making the bubble toasty and warm while Rain and Storm played tag in the sky. Aura stretched out and rolled onto her back. "Ya know Kero, the cards are real convenient. And to think, a few weeks ago I was stuck trapped in a city of morons and jerks board out of my skull and starting to go sane in an uncomfortable run down orphanage eating moldy rotten slop for every meal. Now I'm free and wandering with friends, plenty to do, and with people who realize their IQ is greater than that of half a rotten boot, and eating canned squishy slop. What a nice change." She commented popping a piece of canned but yellow green bean into her mouth. Kero nodded in agreement and reached a paw into the can.

The storm poured rain down outside, and Thunder flashed in the sky. Aura put a paw in the can and growled to discover it empty. She looked around and noticed a movement in the fields below. A few mice were running around below her in the city. She looked over at Kero. "I'm going to find a snack down there, kay?" She asked. Kero got up. "Sure, I think I'll join you. Some meat sounds nice right now." He said as the two flew up into the air.

The two began to hunt the mice in the rubble below. Aura dove and came back up without any food. "D'arvit I missed!" She said. Kero tucked in his wings and dove at the little shapes panicking below. He flew one way, then another, coming back up with two large mice in his paws. He tossed one to Aura and smirked. Aura killed and gulped down her mouse and circled the area. She turned to Kero. " I think we should get going again soon, we've rested up for a day, and we don't want to scare all the prey away.

Soon the two were flying out over the land once more. The rain dripped into their eyes as they flew under the clouds. Aura smiled contentedly as the weather washed out the dust of the ground from her coat. Though she was a lot like a cat, tongue bathing was something she reserved for emergencies only. Kero wasn't quite so happy with the weather. His wings were soaked and it was getting harder to fly. Soon he found he was losing altitude in the windy wet weather. Aura flew on with her eyes closed, humming an old tune to herself. Kero panted and began to coast down under her, trying to shake the water from his fur. Aura looked down and dipped in the air, coming down beside him. "What's wrong?" She asked slowing down.

" I can't fly in this rain, I don't know how you do. Why can't we wait out the storm? I mean, are we in a rush or something? Why do we have to go now?" Kero whined as he began to fall from the air. Aura yelped and grabbed his scruff with her claws. Kero tried to regain altitude, but he was weighed down with all the water the rain poured on him. The wind was picking up to boot. Aura flapped harder, trying to haul Kero back up.

She felt her claws slip and Kero fell down, flapping uselessly, to the ground. Aura hovered in the storm. She circled, yelling at Kero, " Kero! Fly up! Or steer at least, you're going to crash!" She yelled. Kero panted and focused on steering, but the wind was getting worse and worse.

Aura dove as she saw Kero falling to the ground. She winced as she saw hem crash into the bamboo forest, still falling through it. She circled the area and dove into the forest where she had seen him crash. She spotted him in a patch of flower petals below. He seemed relived he hadn't crashed into the hard ground below. Aura flared her wings and landed next to him. " You okay their Kero?" She asked. He nodded and pointed to a trail of petals. " This is the work of the Flower card. She's probably still around here somewhere." He said. Aura nodded as the wind blew some of the trail away. "We better hurry too, while there's still a trail." The two walked on after the card.

Soon they saw the card ahead of them, twirling and spinning around in the rain and wind. Aura put a paw over her nose, eyes watering at the strong piercing smell of the flowers. " Ow, my nose is stinging and the watery eyes aren't helping." She muttered, rubbing her eyes hard. She walked over to the card and raised her staff, sealing Flower quickly. She whined aloud, " It still smells like flowers! Come on Kero, let's find a place to wait that I can breath in." Kero frowned as Aura signed the card. " I like this smell, you can go somewhere else if you want, but I'm staying here, where it's dry and warmer." He declared, lying down in the thick carpet of flower petals. Aura growled and sneezed, as Flower came out again and Aura stalked off into the woods.

Aura walked through the trees as the rain drizzled onto her coat. Her nose was still stinging and she could only smell enough to find her way around. The water droplets raining down sent up a mist aura around everything they hit. She hummed to herself as she walked through the wet environment. Her paws tread on wet leaves and dirt as she walked along a good distance from where Kero and Flower were. She continued to hum to herself as she walked into a clearing. She looked up to watch the clouds and opened her mouth in surprise as she saw her surroundings.

A circular clearing lay before her. The rough ground was filled with tombstones and short grasses. Sitting in the center of the graveyard was a cat made of stone, with two huge bat wings on her back. Her head was bent to her chest and the closed eyes gave the appearance that she was asleep. Her tail curled in front of her, tipped with two feathers on the end.

Just like her dream she had been having.

And just like the dream the statue raised its head and stared at her. Aura stood rooted to the spot as the cat rose. Shades of gray stone turned to dark grey fur, the inner wings turned into a light purple, and at the tip of the tail, the feathers turned a bright red, with blue tips, and the cats eyes turned red with blue pupils. A faint purple tinge lined those eyes as they opened, focusing on Aura instantly.

Aura tensed and froze when the statue rose to her feet as a cat, and prowled closer to Aura. Finally, Aura turned and fled, her feet kicking up leaves and splashing fresh rain in her wake. She skidded to a halt and yelped when the cat sprang in front of her, blocking her path. Aura turned and found her path blocked as the other cat dashed in the way, wings arched and teeth bared. Aura snarled back, lashing her tail and growling loud and low as she could.

She sprang and tried to claw or bite the other cat, but it had already jumped to the side and pounced again, tackling Aura to the ground. Aura kicked back but her claws only gave the other cat a small scratch. It was enough, Aura squirmed free and took off again, weaving left and right, back to the clearing where she could take off back to the air and find Kero to help her. She ran into the clearing and tensed up, then launching herself into the air and spreading her wings. She flapped for altitude, but before she was even clear of the bamboo towers, she found a grey blur blocking her path. Aura dove and tried to fly past, but it was no use, and she found herself crashing into the ground again. Aura yelped as she felt jaws around her neck, and then froze.


	41. Nothing

Nothing

Nothing

Aura yelped as she felt the teeth and jaws scraping her skin as they flew away. Aura scrambled to her feet and turned to fight now that she knew fleeing was impossible. She bent her chest lower to the ground and put her head low between her paws and snarled, tail raised and claws out. She smiled a bit inside when she saw Kero circling the other cat, who she now remembered to be Aven, from her strange dreams. She joined in and circled Aven, growling and lashing her tail. Aven snarled, wings flared and tried to watch Kero and Aura at the same time.

"Why did you attack me?" Aura asked in a deep snarling voice. Aven raised her head high, staring down at the chimera. "Why? Because you shouldn't be here. I guard this site and those who rest here. None may exit alive." She said. Aura raised her head, tilting it to one side in confusion. "Why?" she asked. Aven closed her wings back to her side. "Because I always have. I always shall, until the end of time." She said. Aura stopped circling now. "Why?"

Aven growled. " Why does it matter, it is what I do." She said. Aura opened her mouth. " NO! Do not ask why again! It is no concern of yours, as I am going to kill you." Aven finished. Aura sighed, lowering her tail. "But why can't I just leave?" She said. Aven snarled, " Because You will not stay away, you will always return for that curiosity you have. I will not let anyone know what is here." She said, and then without warning, rushed at Aura. Aura tried to bounce out of the way, but felt claws scrape her flanks. She kicked out and dislodged the cat, as Kero bounded to help.

Aura turned and snapped at Aven, but her teeth hit only air. Aven raced around the edge of the clearing and bounced into the air. Aura let out a burst of flame and took to the skies herself. Kero bounced up too. They circled in the sky, all looking for an opening to attack. "I will kill you soon, just surrender!" Shouted Aven. Aura flapped her wings and then sniffed the air. Her fur prickled and she growled into the breeze. Kero stiffened a moment later also. Aven flapped and darted at them, then also began to waver in the air. Kero thought and concentrated for a moment then looked alarmed and turned sharply left at top speed, narrowly missing a black bubble as it appeared in the air next to him. Aura turned and flew franticly away from the spot she had been in, as another bubble appeared. Aven flew out of the way of the next quickly, with ease. Soon the three were wheeling and swerving in the air to escape the hole in the sky that was after them.

Aura yelped and dove when a hole clipped half of the feathers off of her tail. She looked at Kero and shouted, " What the is that!"

"You watch you language! And that's a card!" He answered. Aura veered to the left, and fell to avoid running into Aven at the same time. She sniffed the air and looked around. A small girl with long hair and wings coming out of her hair surrounded in a bubble of darkness floated in the air much higher up and threw the bubbles at them. Aura flapped and began to gain altitude. She dodged another bubble and flew upwards. She looked down at Kero as he flew behind her. She drew out her staff and pulled out Wind.

" Wind! I need some speed here, I'm, worn out." She told the card as she tapped it with her staff. Wing burst out of her card and flew under Aura's wings, speeding her up greatly. She flapped harder and rose in the air, towards the card. " Kero what card is this anyway?" She asked turning to him for a moment.

" I can't remember! " He realized suddenly. Aura dogged another bubble and looked over. "What so you mean you can't remember!" " It's Nothing!" Harriss said. She exclaimed. She snarled as another great black hole tried to swallow her. She yelped out at Kero as a hole clipped his wing. Kero swerved in the air and dropped a little. Aura doubled back and dove for him as he slowed down. She tried to grab his scruff in her claws, but just then another hole clipped his wing again, and he fell quickly out of reach. She closed her wings and fell after him, reaching for him with her paw. She grabbed his tail and tried to pull him back up as she felt another hole open up. Kero flapped hard and began to rise nit not fast enough. She felt herself fly back suddenly and looked at her paw, and what was in them. The tip of Kero's tail was laying in them; Aura stared at the hole where her friend had disappeared. Her mind slowed and raced at the same time, as the tail tip fell from her paws.

She let out a cry, a mix between a human scream, a wolfs fearful yelp, and a falcons cry of rage, and a hollow metallic growl. The noise froze Aven and the other card, chilling them to the bone and installing a sense of terror in the air. She flapped furiously at the card, as her mind suddenly snapped.

Her snout grew longer than usual, and six teeth sprouted in the back of her gums, two on top and four on the bottom. The top pair before the new teeth grew long, turning in to protruding fangs from her snout. Her ears flew back and her feathers darkened as she flapped them. Her paws grew smaller and her claws shot out, growing blunt and changing shape, like a dogs. A ridge of fur sprouted down her back, wrapping over her shoulders and down to her tail. Her tail tip grew longer and hairier, as the tail shriveled back about half a foot. Her eyes changed from their usual red color, to a mindless, rage filled white stare.

As the last of her stricken cry rang out, the pads on her paws began to glow, a bright yellow circle of light flashed as she flew above Nothing. She fell onto the card's black empty shield. The girl inside watched, expecting Aura to disappear into the bubble, but she landed on it. The circles on her paws glowed brighter, crackling and sending sparks off of the card's shield. The card shrieked in pain, and Aura bit the shield. It cracked and for a heartbeat, nothing happened.

Then with a mighty crack, and a sound like shattering glass, the shield broke into sharp black shards, before dissolving into the wind. The girl looked startled, and began to fall to the ground, numb and disbelieving. Aura fell after her as the feathers on her wings began to fly off, and the wings disappearing with them. Another screech left Aura as the card fell to the ground. Aura landed on the card and opened her mouth, clamping it around Nothing's windpipe. Nothing squirmed, and fired a bubble at aura, but her paws glowed and she kicked at the wall of the void, shattering it with a shower of yellow sparks. Her fangs clenched harder and Nothing began to drift off. She squirmed once more, then lost consciousness. With a flash Kero reappeared, and gusts of wind blew as the air came back.

" You did it Aura!" Kero said facing her. He paused when he saw Aura still hadn't let Nothing go yet. "Aura?" He asked. She growled very low in her throat and slowly turned to face him, dropping Nothing as she turned. Kero got a nervous feeling when he looked into her eyes, white and mindless, ready to kill. She growled as she crept toward him slowly, slinking close to the ground with her tail lashing out and fangs glittering eerily in the dim stormy dusk. She let out a louder snarl and launched herself at him with a roar. Kero tensed a moment, fearful and unsure, torn between protecting himself and finding out what was wrong with his friend. His survival instinct won when his eyes met hers again. He turned and fled, hearing her loud, unusually loud and clumsy footfalls following him, crushing leaves and snarling behind him.

Nothing sat up, gasping for air. She looked around the clearing. The cat, Aven, sat staring tensely into the woods where Aura had disappeared. Nothing sat fearfully there too, watching with an uneasy feeling of fear and helplessness. Aven stood staring, distant but still a little concerned. " Something is not right with her mind." She said distantly.

Aura pounded after Kero without a thought, but kill, and kill, and kill. Her long fangs tore slightly at her lips as she snarled and panted. Kero fled panicking and trying to escape as he started to lose speed, and trip in exhaustion. "Kero, take off!" he recognized the voice as Harriss and began to flap his wings. He got into the air, circling back out of reach, but still concerned about Aura. She stopped and looked up at him, snarling and spitting. "What's wrong with her?" He asked.

" I'm not completely sure, but I think when she saw you disappear, her mind might have snapped, and gone to her scrambled instincts. To put it simply she's temporarily insane. It should fix itself soon enough, if you can keep everyone out of reach, but she'll be real spooked about it. When she calms down you should make sure not to leave her alone for a bit, or she might run off. I think." Harriss advised. Kero circled as she turned and began to race back to the clearing, blood dripping from her snout.


	42. Loop

Loop

Loop

Aura ran through the woods, panting as little drops of blood slid down her snout onto the forest floor below. Her small paws hit the ground, scraping little scores in the dirt with her blunt claws. She thundered back into the clearing and hissed, lashing her tail in aggravation to discover that Nothing and Aven had taken to the air already. She lashed her tail and took off through the clearing to search for something to kill. Her white eyes searched the woods as she ran through them. Strands of saliva dripped from her fangs. She dashed through the wild as leaves whipped the tough coarse fur on her face. She slowed her pace suddenly, and stopped. Her nose was in the air sniffing. She lowered it to the ground. She raised her nose to the air and let out a howl into the air. It echoed through the air and forest. Kero flew above and watched as a howl filled the air around him. He spied a large pack of wolves lounging on some warm sheltered rocks about half a mile away. Maybe fifteen or so. Aura howled, and they howled back. Kero circled as Aura took off at a loping pace to the left, avoiding the wolves territory.

"Why's she avoiding the wolves?" Kero wondered aloud. Harriss floated next to him. " Simple, that isn't her pack, so she won't enter their territory." She said. "Though it would have been better for her to calm down around a pack." " It would?" Kero asked. Harriss nodded. "She does consider herself a wolf, so it would probably have helped. Can't do anything about it though. They won't let her in." she finished as she disappeared again. Kero circled a little more before he remembered something. "Wait, what about the card?" He glanced back. The clearing was a ways back, Aura could get lost if he went all the way back. But Nothing had to be watched too.

"Oh this is just great." Kero muttered as he hovered indecisively. " D'arvit" He muttered as he circled his master. Aura was not slowing her trot at all. Kero dove a little lower to watch as she ran. "Dang it, I can't leave her alone when she's like this, but I gotta get that card. What am I going to do?" He whined aloud. "Maybe I could help." He tensed as he felt a presence next to him. He looked to his right to see a thin loop next to him, red on the outside and white on the inside. "Loop?" He asked. Loop floated over. "For a favor naturally." He continued. Kero looked down at his insane friend below. "What favor?" He asked. If Loop had hands he would have been rubbing themselves greedily. "Oh, maybe, say, a nice shot of magic? After all, you can't expect me to do a good job without power." He reasoned. Kero shook his head. "Sorry, no magic to spare at the moment." He said. Loop turned to float off. "Oh well that's just too bad then. I'm afraid I can't help you friend then."

Kero looked back at Aura as she began to pursue a young hare thorough the woods. She pounced on it, grabbing it in her teeth and shaking it back and forth like a dog. She snarled and ripped it apart, scattering meat everywhere, eating a few gulps before looking around snarling before turning and running somewhere else, leaving the unfinished carcass in the grass. Kero dove, picking it up, and looking at the wasted meat before he finished it. He looked back at Loop floating off. He looked behind him to see Nothing floating in the air, recovering her powers rapidly. He turned back to Loop.

"Wait! Okay, how much magic are we talking about here?" Kero shouted. Loop turned around. "Well well, I thought you had none to spare, but how about, a few jolts." He bargained. "I think a few jolts would be reasonable."

" I don't. I don't even have that much magic! A couple sparks would do the job and you'd still have some left over!" Kero said. Loop floated, considering it a moment. " All right, a couple sparks. You want me to just keep her in one spot then?" Loop asked as Kero began to transfer a little of his magic. "Yeah, until I get back." He said, turning back to the clearing. Kero flew after Nothing in the distance as Loop settled around Aura.

Aura ran trough the woods in a circle. On the third lap she could smell her scent in front of her and behind her. She stopped running and lifted her head in confusion. She turned right and began to run. After a few steps she found herself back where she had started. She lashed her tail and snarled, backing away. She turned and scrambled quickly up a tree. Settling on a bent bamboo stalk to look for a reason she was trapped.

Kero hovered a moment, before settling on the leaves in the clearing. Nothing looked up and began to back away. "Where's the other one? The one who broke my shield." Nothing asked fearfully. Kero stepped forward. "Her mind snapped when I disappeared, Loop has her contained for now. When she starts thinking again I have to make sure she doesn't run off. But don't do anything else to set her off again, okay? When she calms down she'll catch you, okay?" He asked. Nothing shuddered. " No, no, I've been sealed as a card almost my whole life, I don't want to be trapped as a card again!" Nothing said franticly, turning to flee away from Kero.

"No, not a card, no." Nothing chanted to herself as she ran. She looked up as she felt someone following her. A small pink hairball bounced along next to her. "Nothing?" Jump asked. Nothing stumbled a moment, then regained her footing. "Jump? What are you doing out?" she asked. Jump hopped along happily. "I was racing with Dash, but I got a bit lost. You?" He asked. "Fleeing." She replied.

"From who?" He asked. "Keroberos" She replied as she ran. Jump took a huge leap into the air, looking around. "Oh yeah! I see him!" He shouted down enthusiastically.

"You idiot! Get down! He's going to see you and find me!" Nothing yelled franticly. Jump fell back down and looked over. "Whoops." He said rubbing the back of his head nervously. "But why are you running?" Jump asked. Nothing was panting hard for breath now. " Because I don't want to be sealed away again!" She said. "But our new master hardly ever makes anyone stay as a card if they don't want to." Jump said confused. Nothing tripped and fell in surprise.

"She doesn't? Are you sure?" She asked. Jump nodded. "Sure, why do you think I'm out? I hate being a card all the time too." He said. Nothing sat on the ground thinking for a while. "Right now, Kero said, she's not in her right mind. When she is, is she a nice master?" Nothing asked. Jump bounced up and down happily. "I sure think so! She lets me play in the garbage, and watch TV, and run around, and even sleep inside! We have lots of campfire barbeque, and ice-skating, and she plays with me when I get bored! She's lots of fun to have as a master I think!" He said happily. Nothing gave a worried smile. "Well… when does she make you stay as a card?" She asked. Jump wagged his tail. "Only sometimes when there's danger or traveling or your bad or you want to be a card. I almost never have to stay as a card for over an hour at a time!"

Nothing looked at the ground thoughtfully. "Well, if YOUR behavior is good enough to stay out… " She trailed off. Jump grinned for a few moments before the joke clicked. "Hey!"

Aura's tail twitched as she sat in the tree. A faint red tinge was returning to the edges of her eyes and her claws were sharpening. A ridge of small feathers was growing back along her spine as her fur began to thin slowly.

"There you are!" Kero said as he caught up with Nothing. Nothing looked up at him with a very faint smile. "So, will you stay here and keep out of trouble till Aura's normal again?" Jump asked. Nothing nodded. Kero sighed in relief. "Thanks, now I have to go make sure she's okay, you two stay put for now." He said as he took off into the sky.

Kero flew back to where he could sense Loop. He flew down and landed at the edges of the magic area. "Loop, I'm back, you can let Aura out again." He said. Loop bounced back to normal with a sigh. "Finally, with all that time maybe I should get a bonus magic boost." He said. Kero glared. "No, you little swindler, you got plenty already." Kero said with a scowl. He trotted into the area and saw Aura on a tree, looking around wearily. Her fangs were receding now and her eyes only had a few white streaks in them. Kero flew up to the tree next to hers and waited with her as her mind put itself back together. He lay his head on his paws as the sun began to set after a long day.

"Wake up! It's morning!" Aura said as she shook Kero awake. He raised his head sleepily. "That was fast." He muttered as he got up. He jolted awake and began to flail his paws as he fell from the tree branch he had perched on. Aura looked down from her perfectly perched height at Kero, her tail swinging back and forth in a way to show amusement. "So much for rise and shine." She joked. Kero sat up and rubbed his head. "Your back to normal now I see." He grumbled.


	43. Return

The Return

The Return

Aven watched the sky overhead with red and blue eyes. Her wings were half spread as she sat, staring at the sun rising to the center of the sky. She flexed her wings and launched herself into the sky a few minuets later, after two shapes had passed overhead. The purple gemstone on her armband glowed for a moment as she flew after them, trailing behind, just out of sensing range of the two.

"So, where are we going now? Kero asked as they flew along. Aura blinked and looked over. "Huh? What? Sorry, I wasn't listening. What'd you say?" She muttered. Kero flew over a little closer. "Now, where are we going now? I think we might have passed over the last cards on the trip here." Kero said. Aura blinked and nodded. Yeah, I guess we could go around and pick them up. Sure." She mumbled. Kero narrowed his eyes and swooped closer. He raised a wing and knocked it onto Aura's head with a whacking sound. Aura yelped and looked over. " Hey!" She exclaimed. Kero frowned and slid back away. "What's wrong with you today? You're zoning out constantly." He said as Aura looked back down at the ground below.

"It's nothing." She said with a sigh. Kero sighed. "You're not kidding anyone you know. Something's on your mind." He said. Aura sighed as her wings pumped hard in the air, lifting her higher up into the sky. She looked down at the ground, searching for food that might be running around below her. The breeze blew in her face, rustling her fur as she flew. She spotted a medium sized feral pig wandering below. She swooped back to Kero and kept an eye on the pig. 'Kero, can you help me get that pig down there, it's too big to hunt by air on my own." She said pointing it out. Kero licked his lips. "Awright! Bacon!"

"I'll take that as a yes. I'll land and go after it, if you could just help distract it and throw a few flames I think we can get it." She said. Kero nodded as she tucked in her wings and dove to the ground below. The feathers on her tail steered her to a small clearing. Kero reverted to his smaller form so he would be faster and a smaller target. He dove down as he saw Aura twitch the tip of her tail, signaling she was ready. He yelled and grabbed onto the pigs face as Aura rushed in. The pig squealed and began to thrash, slashing upward with it tusks. Aura yelped in surprise as a tusk grazed her fur.

"AH! Kero! Fly away! Fly away! This isn't a pig; it's a wild boar! Get away!" She yelped as she took off again. "Kero screamed and let go, shooting back up. The boar squealed at them from the ground as they shot up to a safe range. "I guess we can forget about bacon then." Kero said. They both chuckled in relief. As they flew back up.

"I'm hungry." Whined Kero about half an hour later. Aura sighed at her own growling tummy as they flew. Her wings beat slower as she coasted on a breeze. "I think we should land and walk for a while. My legs are getting weak from inactivity and flying burns fuel faster." She suggested. Kero sighed but the two sailed down to the ground.

Aura and Kero landed in the towers of bamboo and began to walk. Aura was sniffing and looking around, moving her eats to catch the slight noises of the woods around her. Kero just walked for a while, but began to get bored without anything to do. He looked over at Aura and around the woods. Nothing but a few animals in the woods could be heard. He sighed and stretched out his wings, closing them in a cocoon around himself, going into his false form. He landed on Aura's head and curled up cat-like on it, folding his wings and trying to fall asleep on her head. She walked with a slow steady walk, making it hard to stay on her head as she walked. She stopped and rolled her eyes up to Kero. "Aura, could you walk a little steadier? I can't sleep." He whined. Aura sighed and flipped her head. "Hey!" Kero yelped as he was flung into the air for a moment. Before he could open his wings to fly Aura had lifted her head and opened her mouth, catching him by the scruff in her mouth. She lowered her head back down to usual height, and Kero's tail hung just a little higher than the ground. Aura kept walking with him like that, and he got drowsy, soon falling asleep like a kitten in her mouth.

Aven walked behind the two silently, watching and waiting as they walked south

A while later Kero stirred from his sleeping. "Huh? This place feels familiar." He muttered. Aura looked around, Kero still dangling in her jaws by the scruff. Kero looked around and perked up faster than he usually would after having been asleep. "Hey, I remember! "Aura, can we turn west for a while?" He asked. Aura blinked. "Why?" He asked. Kero looked a little worried for a moment, but then turned as best he could to looked over at her. "Well, it's just, I want to see if they've rebuilt… I want to check… oh how can I put this? Well, the Cards were created a long time ago around here, and, well…" He trailed off. Aura nodded. "Sure, I get it, wanna check up on home then?" She asked as best she could with Kero in her mouth. He nodded, glad she understood. They turned and began to walk a bit more to the west.

Soon the forest gave way to a deserted buildings, and emptey streets. Kero looked around sadly. Aura put him down and he flew off to look for anything familer in his old home. Aura turned and trotted off to look for food.

Kero wandered down the ruined empty streets. A few small tears fell from his eyes as he gazed around sadly at the crumbling city. Small animals scuttled about the ruined old buildings. He returned to his true form, taking off into the sky. He flew around, pinpointing the site of his creation. Even now Clow's magic lingered in the air, old and weak, but something Kero could feel anyway. As he landed in the area he had first been made, he looked down at the ground and let out a few tears. They sparkled as he sat down in the ruined ally, looking around his empty home. "Even here too…"

Aura nosed the ground, looking around for food. She uncovered a few light snacks here and there, but it seemed most of the food had been eaten by other animals living in the ruins. She sighed. Now they had to get going before it got to dark to hunt. She turned and followed Kero's scent through the city.

Kero looked up when he felt Aura approaching. He smiled lightly, a forced smile anyone could see through; mostly due to the wet tear streaked fur on his cheeks. "There's not enough food here, we need to get going before it get to dark to search or hunt." She said. Kero sighed and got up. "Yeah, I know. Let's go." He muttered. Aura nuzzled him encouragingly with her muzzle.

"Hey, cheer up, you're getting me depressed too." She said. Kero sighed again and looked around sadly. " How can the whole place be so deserted? I thought they would have at least rebuilt the place by now. How come there aren't even survivors, no one's here." He whimpered. Aura nudged him along again. "There were so many people, it hit here and spread so fast, and this area was hit before they had a cure, or even knew what was coming. They're getting along nicely where it hardly hit back home, in comparison I mean, but here it's going to be a while before anyone gets back to rebuild. And I bet humans will be afraid of lingering sicknesses." "But, still. How did they cure it anyway?" Kero asked suddenly. Aura Shrugged. "I don't know, when it hit around where I was…"

The two continued talking in the ruins as a gray figure slunk through some of the rubble. Watching from a distance, Aven listened in, she growled to herself and slunk around the shadows. A few sparks came from her paws as she circled the area of the cards creation, and the two unique beasts sitting and talking. The magic tingled through the air as Aura got up, turning to continue the journey. Aven froze, as Aura turned her way and gasped, spotting the other cat. Kero spread out his wings, as Aven summoned hers, and Aura drew her staff at the same time. A few spark spread from each of the many paws on the ground, and a shadow began to swirl around the circle of cats as Aven launched herself at Aura with a roar.

A hole opened underneath Aura, as Aven crashed down on top of her, toppling both into the hole. Kero froze a moment. "The return card" He whispered, before dashing after the two, into the closing hole of magic, reverting instantly to his borrowed form, and just squeezing into the closing hole.

Aven and Aura broke away form their fight as they noticed their surroundings had changed, and they were now standing in a pine tree covered area, a forest with no buildings. They both stopped and began to examine their surroundings. The trees blew in the wind, and the birds chirped on the branches. Then, in the distance, Aura's nose and ears picked up the scent of human.

Kero looked around. Around him lay the ruins of a carnival, as rain fell onto the ground around him. He raised his ears and nose into the air, but the rain washed away the scents and drowned out the noises. He looked around to see where he was and gasped. His wings closed close to him and he shivered. Below him lay ruins of a city, where houses of the city lay empty, filled with bodies that weren't collected in time, and painful memories for those still alive. The near deserted city was just as it had been, and straining his ears he could hear short labored breathing in the ruined fun house next to him. He turned and smothered his weak magic, though he doubted anyone would have noticed anyway. He crept into the building and peered at the sad memory that he knew he would find. 'Why did Return do this, she's always so sweet, why would she send me back here to have to relive this?' he thought in confusion as he watched his master laying in bed, dying. Then he blinked in confusion. Was this one of those memories he could not call up all those times? What was going on?


	44. erase

The Light and Dark

The Erase

As Aven and Aura walked silently through the woods, the scent of humans grew stronger. There was a small town ahead of them and Aura licked her lips at the sight of meat roasting in the open ahead of her. Aven sniffed the air curiously. "What is that smell?" She wondered. Aura licked her lips. "Fresh meat, that's what it is!" She trotted closer to the fire, turning her back to the meat for a moment. "You want some? There's plenty here." She said. Aven walked over cautiously. "How do you know it isn't a trap?" she asked. Aura smirked.

"A trap with cooked meat? Come on, humans would use raw meat for a trap, unless they were trying to catch someone really stupid." She grabbed the meat off the stick it was roasting on and yelped when a net scooped her up into the air. "Looks like you're the really stupid someone then." Aven said staring at the dangling cat. "Oh shut up, I can get out of this! Just watch!" She said. She opened her wings, flying to the top of the net, but growled to discover it had been tied so the top was tangled closed, and she couldn't fly out. She gnawed on the trap, but couldn't gnaw through the rope for some reason. She let out a flame blast, but not even that helped. She slumped to the bottom of the net, baffled until she calmed down and noticed a magic around the trap.

"Great, just great." She muttered as she settled into a more comfortable position. Aven turned nonchalantly back to the woods, leaving Aura dangling in the air. "Wait! Get me down from here will you?" Aura whined. Aven snorted and put another paw ahead. The ground sunk a little and she stepped back, too late though. She fell into a shallow hole and shook the dirt off her coat. "Che," She said as she opened her wings. She bounced up but cried out in surprise to find the hole covered with an invisible magical barrier. Aura peered down into the pit from the net dangling a few feet above. "Well, what do you know, two traps." She said. Aven snarled and curled up in the bottom of the hole.

Kero watched as his second master lay in bed, his past self sobbed silently next to Yue. The breeze blew outside the window as the rain pounded. "Why? Why did Return do this?" Kero said incredibly softly to himself. He turned and shivered, not wanting to watch this scene again. He turned and stared out the window. Something caught his attention and he looked out closer. An old conversation came to mind and he spread his wings, flying outside into the rain after the creature outside.

"I wonder who set up these traps anyway." Aura pondered aloud. Aven growled and twitched her tail, trying to dig her way out, but only to have the dirt cover her progress as she dug. Aven had been at it for almost half an hour now. " You know, I don't think that's doing any good." Aura said. Aven glared. Aura shrugged. "I'm just pointing it out is all…"

" Do you smell that?" Asked a voice from the bushes. It was small and squeaky, like a little kid. Aura peered down from the bushes as she perked her ears. There was something familir about that voice. She saw a paw step out from the bushes, followed by a bright yellow head with wide golden eyes and a twitching black nose. Spotting the food, the rest of the beast followed, a body covered in yellow dirty fur, and two goofy oversized wings, and a long white tipped tail. A bright silver and red cloth was tied over his neck, as a little bandana, and a silver earring with a bright red jewel in it was on his right ear.

"Awright! Food!" A tiny little Keroberos sang bounding over to the fire, stepping on the spot where the net had been set a little while ago. The little Kero grabbed a chunk of meat in his oversized paws, tearing at it with his tiny teeth. Aura stared down at him from the net. "What the?" She muttered softly, when she heard someone else following Kero.

Stepping forward cautiously came a little boy, pale white, with silvery white hair that went down to his waist, and a white robe with a bluish purple on the edges. He also had large oversized wings and an earring on his right ear, but his stone was a blue purple, like his outfit. His soft purple- gray eyes looked around nervously. " Kero, I think we should go back, we shouldn't wander off, what if Clow gets worried?" The little boy asked nervously. The little Keroberos looked over with a long string of meat in his teeth. " So what? Clow never lets us out, I wanna play out here for a while, and you need to stop being such a wuss, Yue." Kero said. The little boy, Yue stepped forward nervously, and looked down to see that he had stepped on the barrier Aven was under. "Keroberos?" He asked nervously staring down at the strange cat.

"If you're going to whine we should get back, save it." He responded not looking up. Yue looked down again nervously. "Kero, I think-" " No." Kero interrupted. Yue backed off back onto the dirt. "But," He tried again. Kero looked back. "Yue, will you give it a rest! I-" Kero stopped in mid shout, seeing Aura dangling in the net. Yue looked up, but didn't see Aura through the leaves.

"Are there are more of them?" He wondered, peering into the treetop. Kero looked over and saw the pit. He peered down and stared at Aven, the tip of his tail bushing out s bit. "Maybe your right, lets get back." He murmured. Aven squirmed in the net. "Actually, so you think you could help me out first?" Aven asked. Yue leapt back. "It talked!" He exclaimed. Aven peered up. "Yes, I talk, can you lend a hand and get me out of here now, instead of stating the obvious?" She asked.

Kero backed away slowly. "Let's go Yue, I'm getting sorta nervous about sneaking out." Kero said. Yue and Kero turned and bounded back into the woods. Aura squirmed in the net, trying to get near the opening. She grabbed her key from behind her and drew it out into a staff, putting the inside of the crescent moon to the rope, and slicing through the weak spell with the sharp crescent of her staff. She slipped down to the ground.

She looked down at Aven. "See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!" She said turning away. Aven snarled. "If the trapper comes back and I'm still here, I'm telling him where you went!" Aven threatened. Aura froze in mid step, spinning back around on her foot and tapping the shield with her crescent moon. She felt around the shield and turned her staff upside down, so that the moon's tip sat on the ground. Sliding it forward, she popped the tip down into the dirt and under the shield. She pushed down and the tip pushed the shield of magic out of the way, breaking it and letting Aven out. "Dang, I thought I was the only one who would stoop to that low of a threat." Aura muttered. Aven ginned ever so slightly.

Aur set out at a trot after Kero and Yue, sniffing the ground and tracking them down with her nose. Aven followed behind. They walked through the woods until Aura hissed in frustration. "I think they took to the skies here." She said, spreading her own wings. She flapped and jumped into the sky. Avne sighed and jumped up after her. "Why do I get stuck baby sitting my victim?" She muttered under her breath as two little specks soared in the sky above.

" Kero, what's that?" Yue asked pointing down as a little grayish shape flew below. Kero looked down and stared, his bandanna flapping in the wind as he flew. He shrugged, almost falling from the air. "I don't know, let's check it out!" He said with a grin. Yue shivered. "But we need to get back to Clow. Let's go already!" He whined. Kero made a 'pfft' noise over his shoulder, dropping down to get a better look at the blur below. Yue scowled, following his brother down to the gray blob.

Kero whined as a cloud flew around him, and blocked his view of the gray. Yue hovered in the sudden cloud and also looked around nervously. Kero perked his ears and turned to a swishing sound on his left, and then realized it sounded like wings. "Yue?" He asked.

Aura pounced onto the glowing spot in the clouds, tackling Kero and sending both spiraling to the ground. Aven hovered overhead, in the misty cloud. She beat her wings, swirling the mist about with them. She opened her mouth, spreading more of the mist from it, and keeping the other figure lost in the white wet cloud.

Aura and little Keroberos fell to the ground, in a tangle of claws and teeth. Aura got up and pounced as little Kero tried to scamper away. She pinned the little ball of fluff to the ground easily, with one paw even. Kero whined and scratched, trying to get free. Aura peered up at the sky, to see the other person was still clouded in the mist. She swished her tail and folded her wings to her side, as they vanished. Kero whined and started to cry as he figured out he couldn't escape.

Aura sighed, wondering what to do with him so he wouldn't remember her in later on in the future. She perked her ears as he froze suddenly, and also perked his ears and opened his mouth slightly in confusion. Aura looked around and sniffed the air. She tensed and dove to the side, evading an air current. She summoned and spread her wings, preparing to fly away if she had to. She growled at the presence and Kero whined. She looked over and tensed as he faded, growing transparent and then vanishing. Aura swished her tail and growled at the card. Harriss floated next to Aura. "It must have followed you here. That explains how Return had enough power to send you this far back." Harriss muttered. Aura nodded and stood on her hind feet, puling out her staff. She ran over to the presence, and slashed at it. She felt her weak magic in the staff hit a card, and Erase flickered into view for a moment, before becoming a mist. Aura growled as the fur on her back stood up, bristling. She rushed again at Erase, jabbing the moon at the mist. Her magic spurted out, but seemed to do nothing against the mist. She let out a blast of fire at the card, and Erase backed off farther. Aura sprung with her claws out and teeth bared. She roared and slashed at Erase, but drew back as her paw began to fade as she came closer. She growled and jumped to the side to avoid a spurt of magic from the card. She hissed and blocked another shot with her staff. Erase flickered into view for another moment.

Aura rushed in, letting a burst of fire out at the card, blinding Erase for a moment as she swung her staff again. Erase flickered into a mist, surrounding the chimera. Aura swung her staff at the card, beginning the chant.

" Return to the guise you were meant to be!" Aura yelped. Erase sprang at her, going straight for her mind, and stall her. Just as Erase began to wipe the recent memories. "Erase card!" Aura finished as she fell over. She growled and clawed at her head, roaring and howling fiercely at the sky as her most recent memories began to slip. She flapped her wings and howled again as she grabbed her staff. Collapsing to the ground. Sinking into unconsciousness on the ground.

Aven looked over as another figure weaved through the woods. She dove down to the ground. She looked up at the figure that approached the sleeping Aura and Keroberos. His long robes trailed on the ground. His golden sun topped staff glimmered with magic in the light. Aven lowered her wings and dipped her head. "Clow." She stated simply.

Clow bent down and stroked Aven's fur. " Ah, Aven, it's been a while hasn't it." Clow said. Aven purred and the two began to chat.

Aura stirred into a half conscious state. She perked her ears a little and listened in on the nearby conversation.

" But I though I was supposed to guard the graves of the future masters of the cards." Aven said, sounding confused.

"You were meant to be guardian of the graves of the future masters, but that doesn't mean killing anyone who comes near them, I just wanted you to make sure no now found the bodies, sometimes there's lingering uncontrolled magic that could be dangerous to those without magic, that's why your supposed to guard the graves." She heard someone say in an exasperated. There was a moment of silence before the voice spoke again. "Any way, you two better get back to your own time before something happens. So you want me to send you back?" The other voice seemed to be a bit more cheerful now. There was a moment of silence, and she felt magic encase her and Aven, before she felt the tug of time dragging her back to her own.

Aura sat up and looked around, rubbing her head lightly. She sniffed the air and saw Aven sitting next to her, staring ahead for a moment, before coming back to reality and getting up. Aura watched as she took off into the sky. She turned and looked around as another magic was in the air, like a Clow cards. "Kero?" She called out. At that moment Kero also appeared where he had been when he had vanished. Return buckled and collapsed under the drain of having three passing through it at once, and returned to a card, falling next to Erase at Auras feet.

Kero crawled to his feet and looked over at Aura. "What happened?" He asked dazedly. Aura shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really remember either actually. You?"

"Not a clue. But we've got two more cards." He said pointing at Auras feet. She bent down and picked them up, pulling out a pen. The two looked over at the sky where the smell of the ocean was. "Well, Erase will explain why you can't remember, but why can't I?" Kero wondered aloud. Aura perked her ears. "Wha? Why, does erase take memories or something. Kero nodded. She looked at the card in her hand.

"Well then, I think we could go back and make people forget that last fight then, right?" She asked. Kero nodded. "Yeah, and I don't want Aven attacking us either." He said. Aura shrugged. I get the feeling that won't be a problem, lets go." She said. The two spread their wings, gathering their stuff and flying back over the water.

"Shouldn't we try to get some food before we leave this time?"


	45. Arrow

The Arrow

Aura flew with Kero over the water, smiling as she saw the beach coming up. The moon was setting and soon lots of humans would be there, but for now she was savoring her last moments of free time away from the other species before she went back to school. She cruised along a wind current and smiled to herself, before diving to a glittering swarm of shapes a ways away. She circled a large bunch of blue and gold balloons as they flew through the sky. Looking down she saw a football stadium, and many people. She could hardly see them from way up here, and felt sure all none would notice a stray winged cat flying overhead. She circled around a few more times, snatching the helium balloons and flying upward in the sky with them. She giggled to herself as she felt the floaty balloons lifting her extra lightly designed body high up into the sky with hardly a beat of her wings.

"What are you doing?" Kero asked gliding over. Aura grinned and let them loose. "Target practice of course!" She said as she watched them scatter in the sky. She unsheathed her claws and grinned with her mouth full of sharp teeth. "Wanna make it a game? Whoever gets the most balloons gets first pick of the next prey we catch." She said. Kero licked his lips. "Aw right! You are on!" He said as he grew into his true form. " And make sure to grab the strings so we know who got more." Aura shouted as she began to pop balloons. Kero flew up too, grinning and going for a blue balloon, slashing it with his claws and snatching to string in his teeth. Aura was doing the same, but using her hind paws to kick in the thicker clusters. Popping could be heard all over the sky.

"Soon the balloons had all been popped and the strings were caught in the paws of both flying cats. They landed in a wooded area and began to count out the strings. Kero had caught about twenty-five balloons, and Aura had managed to get around twenty. She blinked in confusion. " What? How did that happen?" She wondered. Kero grinned. I've had practice flying a lot longer than you have, that's how." He said returning to his false form. Aura plucked the floating plush toy out of the air and put him on her shoulder. " All right, fine whatever. Lets find a place to grab a bite to eat then." She said, setting off into the city in human form.

As they wandered the city Aura began to sniff the air. " Oh man, something smells great over that a way." Kero whined. Aura nodded in agreement. "Cheese burgers and hot dogs, probably from that stadium I'd guess." She sighed and put her hands in her pockets and hung her head in disappointment. "No money though." Kero sighed too, both he and Aura still imagining the hot greasy tasty foods he was missing.

She came back out into the woods and shape shifted back into a tiger. Kero moved onto her head and sat down. "Are we there yet?" He asked.

Aura crouched down to the ground and froze as Kero circled overhead. A few young rabbits were in the field in front of her nibbling grass. Her tail twitched as she inched, painfully slow, to them. Kero landed in the grass between them and their burrows. The rabbits noticed the weird yellow thing there and watched it with their full attention. Aura scooted a little closer and sprung at them. She caught one in her jaws and one under a huge floppy paw. Kero darted away from the burrow letting the other few go. He fluttered over to her and looked at the fresh meat. I'll have that one!" He said pointing to the one in her mouth, the larger one naturally. She rolled her eyes but tossed the larger kill to him. He caught it and looked around for some dry twigs. Soon he found some and the rabbits were roasting in the woods. Aura grinned and licked her chops as she lay down. "I'll be taking a nap, kay?" she rolled onto her side and drifted off before Kero had replied. He turned back to the roasting meat. It smelled very good and his mouth was watering just watching it cook. He glanced over at Aura, fast asleep and not at all watching the food as it cooked. He turned back to the food and reached a paw out slowly. He yelped as an arrow shot past his hand, sticking itself into the rabbits. Kero shouted at Aura to wake up as the arrow returned to sender with the rabbits speared on its tip. Kero growled, flying after the food and transforming into his true form. Aura snored on obliviously.

"Get back here you little sneak of a card!" He shouted as he ran through the underbrush. Arrow cackled as she fled away with the food in hand. Kero growled and dashed after her, letting out a few bursts of flame as he went. She merely cackled as she ran faster. Kero spread his wings, bouncing into the sky. He let out one more blast before circling back to find Aura.

Aura snarled as she leapt to her feet. Kero bounced out of the way as she growled and looked around, before her brain realized she was awake now. "Seriously, what's you problem when you're asleep? Never mind, there's a card loose you got to catch." He said. Aura surveyed the clearing and sniffed the air. "Did you eat my share of the catch?" She asked suspiciously. Kero sighed. "No, the card took it, now let's go before it gets away, it could be halfway into the city by now." He said. Aura got up, shaking her fur and spreading her wings. "Which way'd it go, what card?" She asked as they took off.

" Arrow card, and it went a little more east." The two flew on and soon spotted the card below, walking along and about to dig into the rabbits. "Hey, that one's mine!" Kero yelped. Aura smacked her forehead as Arrow looked up in alarm and began to flee. "Brilliant." Aura snarled as she took off after the speedy card. Kero scowled but followed as Aura drew her staff.

"Return to the guise you were meant to be, Arrow!" Aura shouted as she swung her staff onto the card. Arrow was sucked back into a card as Kero dive for the meat. He reached out his paws to grab his piece as it fell. Beside him the grass rustled.

A happy brown fox leapt out, grabbing the meat as it dashed off to the tree line a little ways away. Aura's piece fell to the ground as she landed on it, grabbing onto it with her claws.

" This piece is mine." She declared as she signed Arrow and slipped it behind her back with her pen. Kero took an aggressive stance, growling and bristling. "No, I'm, gonna have that one!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"MINE!"

"Wanna bet!" Kero cried as he leapt. Aura opened her jaws and gave out a roar as the two began to fight.

A few feet away a mangy stray dog came up to the rabbit, picking it up and running off while the two were distracted.


	46. Mirror and libra part 1

Mirror and Libra

Mirror and Libra part one

Aura flopped down onto her old bed with a sigh of relief. Erase stood at the window a moment longer before collapsing into her card form and drifting into the Sakura book. Kero landed in the windowsill, returning to his false form and landing on Aura's pillow.

"Aw man, what a day, I'm exhausted!" He announced as he flopped over belly up onto the pillow. The two had finally finished wiping the memories of people who knew they had vanished for a bit, and all involved were just plain pooped. Kero began to snore softly on the pillow. Aura smiled and weakly reached over with her paw, tickling his tummy with her claw. The little guardian began to giggle and twitch as she tickled his belly. She rolled onto her side, curling up a little, and also began to nap.

Mirror stood outside the room on the tree branch that ran along next to the window. She gazed inside, deep in thought. The branch shook as she jumped onto the ground. Mirror stalked off into the bushes and from there headed to the woods. The half moon shone down on the tree, and at its base the Libra card glowed, activating and following Mirror.

The sun shone into the window and fell onto Auras face. The sleepy chimera groaned and got up. She hopped off the bed and stretched on the floor, first brushing her chest to the floor and lifting her tail high in the air so it curled over her head, forepaws stretched out far in front of her. Then she stretched out, leaning forward and pointing her hind paws as hard as she could. She shook her head and shoulders, and yawned. Kero also began to stir as the shifting shadows on his face woke him.

"Aura? Your up? On a school day? On your own? Is something wrong, sick or something?" Kero asked curiously. Aura gave him a sarcastic scowl and began to brush out her fur. "I'm just looking forward to school today, I'm sorta hoping someone try's to pick a fight. If they do, I'll whip out Shadow and have some fun pretending to be the grim reaper." She began to softly chuckled to herself as Kero took up his usual perch on her shoulder. She grabbed her staff and rummaged through the card book, puling out lock. "Hey, think you could lock up again?" She asked as she tapped Lock with her staff. Lock seeped into the walls again, sealing the room. Aura walked out, slipping Shadow into her pocket.

Aura laid her head on her desk in boredom. It was a half an hour till lunch, and she was already contemplating the idea of going home once the lunch bell rang, comparing the boredom to the trouble she'd get in later on. Her mind drifted away from science class as she stared blankly at the clock. It was taking forever to move. And when she though it couldn't get slower, the bell finally rang.

She bounced up, darting out the door to the main entrance. Or exit. Kero snoozed softly in her backpack as she left the building. She made a beeline straight to the empty field behind the building. She set Kero and her bag down, and lay in the tall wild grasses behind the building. The warm sun tickled her face as she rolled over for a nap.

Her nose twitched.

She perked her ears and sat up as something grabbed her attention. About fifty feet away a rabbit was wandering in the field.

'What's a rabbit doing out here in the middle of the day? Is it sick?' She wondered to herself. She licked her chops at the last thought as she got up and crept closer. The rabbit turned and stared where she was crouched, but for some reason wasn't running. Aura could smell it wasn't sick, and she crept closer curiously. The rabbit turned and leapt at her suddenly. She yelped and tried to shake it off her head.

Looking over at the rabbit, she only saw a card instead. She growled and took an aggressive stance, getting ready to pounce. Mirror stood a moment and then glowed as she took Aura's form. Mirror also crouched, and then pounced. Flying through the air Mirror hung over Aura a moment, blocking the sun in her pounce. Aura snarled, pushing off the ground with her forepaws and opening her mouth. Her teeth grabbed into the thick fur that she also had protecting her underbelly, but it was enough to flip Mirror over in the air. Mirror landed on her side scrambling to her feet, and jumping out of the way as Aura whirled and snapped at her hind foot. Aura smirked and held her head up confidence, and snorted.

"Is that all you got card?" She taunted. Mirror snarled in Aura's form, before returning to her own form. Aura turned around to get her staff.

And yelped when she felt claws on her back and teeth on her spine. She tried to flip Mirror off her back, but she couldn't twist out from under her attacker. Mirror coiled her replica of Aura's long, powerful tail and brought it crashing onto the original's head. Aura yelped and slumped over in the grass as Mirror smiled, taking aura's human form and picking up her backpack. The bell rang as she walked back to the doors of the school.

Kero stirred in the backpack and opened a sleepy eye. He could hear they were back in the classroom.

"If you remember this triangle then it will help you remember the formulas for distance, time…"

Kero could hear the teacher trying to give a lesson to the talkative class. It wasn't working well though, and soon he decided to just try and fall asleep again. He rolled over onto his other side in the little backpack compartment, asleep in Aura's homework and notes. He blinked and opened his eyes again. He peered out the little ventilation/ peephole in the zipper and looked over across the desk. Aura was taking notes? In science class? He sat up in the paper and leaned on his front paws, watching her actually working in class. She wrote down and answered questions the teacher asked the class, and she even was grinning.

Kero began to worry. When no one was looking he reached out the hole and tapped the table near the paper. "Hey, Aura, are you actually taking notes? And participating in class?" He asked cautiously. She grinned down at him. "Yeah, why shouldn't I?" She asked quietly. 'He hasn't noticed already, has he?' She thought to herself. Kero's eyebrows drew together worriedly. "Are you okay? You've been acting weird- no your always weird- you've been acting normal all day! It's starting to make me freak out here." He said. She just grinned and laughed a little, turning back to her work.

The real Aura sat up, rubbing her head as she looked around. Her pack was gone and looking at the sun she could see it was around three. School would let out in a little while. Sitting up, she began to look around for the card that had the nerve to attack her. She didn't see Mirror anywhere as she got to her feet. Turning to the school she twitched her tail, smelling the scent trail left in the grass. "D'arvit" She swore as she ran to the tree line to wait for a chance to strike back. "D'arvit! I never thought anyone else would use tactics that sneaky but me!" She whined to herself as she ran.

Mirror shut the textbook and neatly folded her homework, slipping it into Aura's backpack. Kero took the paper and read the structured sentences, the clear answers, the neat handwriting, the detailed answers, and the answers answering the whole question in complete sentences. "Awright, now I KNOW this can't be Aura, but who is it? Hmm…" He muttered to himself. The two walked out the door and set out.

Aura followed Mirror from the sky. Her gray black and white backed wings, darkening blue on the inside, flapped in the air. She growled as she looked down on the imposter. "I can see Kero in there, once she puts my bag down for a moment, It's gonna be a fight." She snarled as she circled. Mirror neared the tree Aura always climbed to enter her room. Aura grinned; tucking her wings halfway in and beginning a silent glide lower to her target. Then, Mirror set down her bag, and the little guardian in it. Aura dove, wings flapping for speed and tail feathers alone steering her down, claws out and ready to strike, and teeth open to attack.

Mirror felt a presence nearby and turned to the wood line nearby, walking a few feet over to see what was causing it. She gasped in surprise when she felt claws rake her back, just grazing her, and a flurry of wings ad feathers, followed by a string of choice words. Aura scrambled to her feet, taking her battle stance and growling at the imposter. Mirror saw a rustling in Aura's bag and quickly changed to Aura's tiger form, adding the wings just before a yellow head poked out to look around.

"Huh? What the heck?" Kero said, floating out of the bag. Both cats looked up in unison at him, and said, "It's a card!" and "I'm the real one!" Kero floated in midair indecisively. "Uh," He muttered, looking back and forth between the two. Aura one put her ears forward. "Kero, Can't you sense I'm Aura?" She asked.

"Don't you even DARE think about believing that other one, I'm the real one!" Aura two said. Kero looked back and forth, he couldn't sense where the cards presence was coming from, as that was something Mirror could copy, but He had never mentioned it before to anyone. But Aura might have had the sense to come up with that idea, but then again she might not and Mirror cold be bringing it up to trick him. They were both crafty.

"Uh, look, one of you is aura and one's a card, but I can't tell which just yet, I'll need some time to figure it out." He said nervously. "Okay, I can understand that, makes sense anyway." One said. Two rolled her eyes "Why can't you decide yet, I can't believe you still can't tell the difference. Why don't you just start asking questions only I would know?"

"Well, what if the memories of the time I've been with you were copied too? I have an idea which card one of you is, but I can't say which it is." He said, and One replied, "What! Why not! If it's another stupid magic rule I'm gonna scream." Two also looked agitated but just growled and looked away in a huff.

Kero hovered in the air a moment and looked between the two. Mirror was a perfect copy, and could have copied most of the memories, but maybe not.

"All right, Aura on the right," He said to One, "Why should I believe you're the real Aura?" He asked. One sat down and thought a moment. "Well, I'm your friend, and maybe you could smell the difference?" she asked. Two snorted. "As if, there's no difference in smell, you should know I'm the real one because I could toss you from here to the moon if you can't figure it out." She said irritably. Kero pondered that, both responses could have been from Aura, though were almost complete opposites.

"All right all right, how about this? What are your favorite colors?" He asked. Both one and two had identical looks of disbelief on their faces. " Whatever, it's green and brown, reminds me of the woods." One said rubbing the base of her neck. Two sat down and sighed. "I don't know, colors aren't that important when they're all a couple pixels from gray." She said. Kero and one looked over confused. "What I mean is while my vision isn't black and white completely, it's real close. Colors are all grainy, my eyes are made more for tracking and stuff." She explained. Kero crossed his wings, hovering thoughtfully in the air. ' I wonder if Mirror would know that, copying Aura…' "Okay, um, let's see… what annoys you the most?" He asked. "Other humans, they never shut up." One said. "Also humans, but because they're just… just… just… Oh I don't know! Too human or something!" Two growled scratching her head. The questions continued.

Kero fell onto his back two hours later. "Ah, this is impossible!" He whined. One looked over at two tiredly. "Let's fight it out then, strongest must be real." She said. Two got to her feet. "Oh yeah, I could whoop you from here to next Tuesday if I wanted to!" Kero flew between the two before a fight broke out. "All right, we're all stressed here, but keep cool!" He shouted. Both Auras simultaneously lunged at each other. Kero started pulling ears, and tails, and shouting, trying to break them apart.

A card watched from the bushes, as the three fought. "Dang it, I'm the real one! Now let go of my tail!" The scale tipped to the sun. "No, I'm real, let go of me and I'll prove it!" The scale tipped towards the crescent moon. The chaos continued as Libra floated out of the bushes. Kero hovered in the air as he noticed the scale. " Huh? Hey you two, I know how to figure out which of you is lying!" he exclaimed.

The scale tipped itself to the left, as if imitating a dog that tilted its head in acknowledgement. Both Aura's looked over, dropping their fists and letting their lips fall over their teeth again. Two looked over and pointed. "Is that a card? How is that going to help?" She asked.

"Simple, this card can tell if you tell the truth or not! One side of the scale tips if your lying, one tips if you're telling the truth!" He said, gesturing to Libra. One smiled.

"But, which side's which?" Asked two. Kero opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again. "Well, uh, that's something I never could figure out. Ya see, it avoids obvious traps to figure that out, you know, lies everyone present knows is a lie. So…"  
Both slapped their foreheads and groaned in unison. Kero laughed nervously in the air as Libra floated next to him.


	47. Mirror and Libra part 2

Mirror and Libra part 2

Mirror and Libra part 2

"All right, come on, lend a hand will ya'? Kero pleaded to the card. It remained motionless in the air. Kero sighed. One and two walked over. "Why don't we try catching it then? The staff only works for one person right?" Aura said. Kero smiled hopefully. "Yeah, that could work!" He said. Mirror began to worry, and also reached behind her back, set to mirror the staff that came out, and hoped for a miracle.

She got one

"Kero stared at the paws blankly. Both were empty. "Don't tell me you left it in the woods again." Kero muttered darkly. One grinned apoligeticly, and two said, "Well, actually I think it's in the field behind the school this time, technically…" Kero slapped his forehead and decided to utter a few words he learned from Aura. Two snickered. One scowled disapprovingly. "You watch your language." She said.

"Anyway, let's just go back and get the staff for now." He muttered.

"There it is!" Kero said pointing to a staff lying in the long grass. Kero looked over. "So, card do you want to keep trying or just cut the act out now." Kero asked looking between the two. There was silence for a moment, and then a sigh from Mirror.

One was gone, and standing in her place was a card, Mirror. Aura looked over at Kero. "So, which card then?" She asked. Kero casually hovered higher out of reach. "Er, well, it's sorta a rule that you have to figure it out for yourself or you won't be able to capture it." Kero muttered as he floated up another foot. Aura began to swear under her breath, shooting a casual glare at the plush guardian smartly hovering out of easy reach. Aura crossed her arms and scowled away from the sun in irritated concentration.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to just tell me which card you are?" she asked Mirror. The silence was answer enough. "Well, okay, but why'd you copy me if you weren't gonna kill me?" she wondered aloud. Mirror looked down to the ground sadly. "I just wanted to live a normal life like other people could…" Mirror muttered. Aura smirked. "My life normal? No way. I have one of the farthest from normal lives out there. Speaking of normal life, what all happened while I was out?" She asked.

"Nothing really just normal school life…" Mirror started but was confused to hear Kero trying not to laugh out loud. "What?"

" Normal school life? For her? You didn't bother to read her memories about how she acts at school did you?" He snickered behind his paws. Mirror raised an eyebrow. "Well, no I didn't but-" Aura looked alarmed. "You didn't do anything that would make people think I was nice or sweet or anything, did you?" She shivered at the thought of what a mess such a thought would be. Kero smirked. "Oh no, but she did homework, in detail, with good spelling. Why, she even used punctuation!" Kero said, smiling as he watched Aura give a strangled scream and fall over, over dramatically.

Mirror smiled a little in mutual amusement. Aura got up and fingered her key and thought. "Well, I don't suppose you'll just tell me which card you are?" She asked. Mirror gave her a polite 'no duh' look.

"Hints?" She asked. Mirror looked down in thought. "No, no hints either." She said. Libra tilted to the left, the side with a sun on it. Aura sighed. "I don't suppose you'd be any help." She said. Libra tilted to neutral. "All right, think, Aura, think."

She thought.

"I know, if I can figure out which side of Libra is truth and which isn't, I can play twenty questions and figure it out. "She said excitedly, and sat to face Libra. "Okay, um, two plus two is five!" She said, waiting for whichever side of Libra was lie to tip. It stayed in neutral. She tilted her head as Kero floated down. "I told you earlier, that won't work."

"Dang, I was hoping it would forget." She muttered crossing her arms.

' All right,' aura thought, 'I need a way to trick this card to find out if it's lying or not. What can I do to trick it? I wonder if it can determine a lie if the lie teller doesn't know they're lying.' She asked Kero, who only shrugged in reply. "Well, what's to lose?" She said thinking. "Okay, the first thing Jump will say when I call him is hello." She decided, pulling out her Sakura book and taking the empty card out. Libra tilted to the right, where the moon was. "Yo, Jump, you there?" She called. A voice popped out. " 'Yellow" Jump said hyperly. Aura drew her eye stripes together. "Great, you meant hello, but said yellow, which does it mean?" She growled. Jump hopped out of the card into the field. "Hey, what's up?" he asked happily. He looked around and noticed the other cards. "Hey Libra, Mirror." He waved at them. Aura's mouth dropped open in shock, and she grinned. Mirror's eye twitched as Aura started to grin and chuckle. "Thank you Jump, that was helpful." Aura smirked. Jump was confused, but grinned. "Well, uh, happy to help. If that's all, can I go back, I was in the middle of a big old dumpster race with Little to see who could find this weird little furry rat we saw," Aura began to nod, and Jump leapt back into the card, to where he had been.

"So, Mirror then?" Aura asked. Mirror turned back into her true form with a lot of grumbling. Aura took out her staff. "Mirror, return to the guise you were meant to be. Libra, you too." She said. The two returned to cards and Aura signed them. "That's two more down. Hey, Kero how many card's are there left?" She asked as she put them into the book and got up. Kero counted in his head. "Only, eight I think, wow." He said as they flew home.

Aura set her bag down and pawed through it, pulling out her homework. It was nice and neat, as She had been told. She looked through the rest of her pack, which Mirror had organized, and glanced at the book, where Mirror was resting in her card. "Hey Kero, why would Mirror, of all the things she could do as me, go to school?" She asked her guardian beast. Kero stretched out in his true form and curled up in the center of the room. "Well, my guess is that she wanted to try living a normal life, like she said. Why?"

"Well, I do hate school, and homework, gee really I prefer the woods to the city. Maybe, you know how a teacher can send in a substitute teacher, why not send in a substitute student when Mirror wants to?" She grinned at the though of a vacation. Kero rubbed his eyes. "Oh no, I should have come up with a different reason, I knew I should have!" He shouted, slamming his head into the floor. Aura grinned, laying her head on her paws and falling asleep.


	48. Sand

Sand

Aura ran through the woods happily, tail straight out behind her and nose to the air. Her feet pounded the earth as she ran through the forest with the rest of the wolves, just for fun. She opened her mouth and howled into the sky as leaves flew behind her. She looked over her shoulder with a grin. "Aw man, this is the life, running free through the woods with your pack all around the territory, It's just so much fun isn't it Kero?" She laughed.

Keroberos was not inclined to agree with her on that. "Aura, we've been running," He wheezed as he spoke the next words, spluttering and out of breath. "We've ran for about two hours now, I HAVE to rest!" he protested. Aura's tail waged. "It builds endurance, thin how good a runner you'll be!" She said joyfully, lightly panting. Kero tripped and fell on his face into the leaves, and was passed by some more wolves, and he could swear they were laughing at him as they passed. "Wait, Aura, I- chough- need to rest, wait up!" He cried, lifting his head from the dirt. Aura just laughed and continued along with the rest of the pack. Kero swore as he crawled to his feet again, and forced his aching body to keep running. He trotted a few steps, but yelped as he found himself face first on the ground again, with a tree root tangled on his paw. He lifted his face to the retreating pack, spitting out a couple leaves. 'They ARE laughing at me…' He concluded.

"Wow, you're right, he is a pathetic runner. Maybe you should come back and have him learn to run with the pups!" One wolf said, and they all laughed. She was brown, one of the ones who had pups when she left, and was named Haghni'. Now there were six more wolves in the pack, still young enough to need babysat back home though. It looked like most of them would be brown. Though there were a couple of grey ones coming I though, it seemed. "So you left Do'vup and Cho'patlh back at the den to watch the pups then?" Haghni' wagged her tail in confirmation. Aura jogged with the pack through the territory for another hour or so, before realizing Kero had actually fallen behind and hadn't been kidding. "Oops. I gotta go back, I thought 'That yellow thing' was faking it, I should probably make sure nothing eats him, kay?" She asked the pack. Tails wagged as she called up her wings and jumped into the sky. Her tail feathers caught a breeze, sending her sailing back to the area Kero had collapsed.

"JOKING!? I can't believe you ditched me for an hour because you though I was JOKING! You may not realize this, but not everyone can run for hours without noticing it! Some of us have to breathe!" He shouted after Aura had come back. She lowered her ears apologetically and licked his muzzle, a sign of submission, and a very sincere apology. Kero sighed, hauling himself to his feet and stepping back. "All right, just try not to run me into the ground again, okay?" He licked her muzzle back, in a forgiving gesture. Aura wagged her tail and stepped forward. "Well, you wanna go home then?" She asked. Kero grinned and stepped back. "Sure, lets go!" He said, turning back. His foot sunk into the ground as he turned, putting his weight on his left hind paw, and in just the wrong place. He yelped and tripped as he tried to pull his foot up. Aura growled as he whimpered in pain. His paw was caught in a bear trap. He tugged and pawed at the trap, trying to get his other paw loose. Aura leaned over. "Some idiot who thought he'd copy the movies it seems. Sheesh, that's never a good idea." She put a paw on the chain and tried to open the sharp teeth on the trap. "Broken homemade trap, naturally. It's really stuck."

"It hurts." Kero whined, pawing the trap. Aura looked down the peg it was on. " I could try digging it out." She crouched over and pawed the dirt, starting to power through it.

"I can't believe someone would just drop a trap here, this is so mean. They should ban traps." He babbled. Aura grunted as she dug. "No, it's a trap and part of survival of the fittest. Humans have thumbs and brains, and use them to be fittest. I'd think this was meant to get a wolf. Hurghnach's probably been looking for someone else's animals as a snack again. I keep telling them not to do that, some rancher or something's going to get mad and come after them but they almost never listen. Now there're going to be traps for them again." She sighed as she dug. "It's a shame really, they just can't seem to comprehend the concept of it. If they did…" she noticed as Kero perked his ears and concentrated. "Aura, stop, wait!"

Aura stopped digging and drew her paw out in confusion, then jumped back in surprise as a huge spurt of dirt flew up like a flare. She crouched down; ready to lunge as the sand gathered and swirled in the pit she was digging. She circled the card, and the card turned its 'head' to track her. She dug her claws into the dirt and snarled, before launching her self in a running leap at it. Kero got to his three feet and flared his wings, letting a burst of flame out at the base of the sand. Aura flew into the sand and yipped, as the sand started to suck her down into it. She twisted and squirmed in its grip. Another yelp and she shot a blast of fire at it. The card reared back, a couple drops of sand melting slightly together, and dropped the chimera to the ground. She jumped back and growled, her fur bristling. The sand card reared up and laughed at them.

She grew her wings and jumped into the air, before she remembered Kero. "S***" She growled, diving back. He squirmed; trying to avoid the card while his paw was caught in the contraption. He was letting out jets of fire at the card, keeping it at bay for the moment.

Aura spewed more fire at it, landing and becoming aware of how much the fire was taking out of her energy reserve. She bared her teeth and snarled, forming her mouth into a narrow funnel and spewing out the fire in small concentrated blasts. Sand dodged and weaved around most of her fire and was hardly fazed by what did hit. Aura lashed her tail in frustration as the fur along her back bristled up. Kero worriedly noticed it seemed just slightly longer than usual, and he eyes had tinges of white at the edges.

"Aura, are you okay?" He asked. She shook her head back and forth, as her eyes cleared slightly. "No, fire takes a lot out of me and I start to change when I use too much up in a single fight. This is bad." She growled. Kero snarled at Sand and shot out more fire, a few more bits melting into each other. Aura grabbed her staff and fished around behind her back, and pulled out fire. "Fire, this thing seems to not like fire that much. So get your butt over here!" Aura finished by yelling into the card. A moment later a huge jet of flame flew into the air, darting at Sand. Sand reared back and shot out torrents of sand at Fire. Aura turned and started to wrestle with the trap on Kero's foot.

She gasped triumphantly as she finally wrestled the darn thing free from his foot. Kero hissed as he got up, trying to keep his weight off the foot. Aura looked over her shoulder as Fire and Sand fought, Fire darting in and out, as Sand twisted and Weaved around. "Kero, get out of here, you're hurt." He said as she stood up and clutched the staff. He shook his head. "No way, you'll probably need the fire power." He argued. Aura just sighed. "Have it your way, but if you get killed don't start whining about it later." She muttered as she pointed her staff at the battle before her. "Is there a chance that Earth could help get Sand under control?" she asked. Kero shook his head.

"It could, but the problem is you don't have enough power to take up two elemental cards at once, especially right now." He protested. She sighed. "Figures. The problem is that I can't get close enough to hit this thing with a good full blast. I need more…" She trailed off a moment and began to bang her head into the nearest tree. "The Dash card, Duh!" She said, rubbing her head where she had banged it into the tree.

"Dash, got a need for speed over here!" She called to him. A card swirled and Dash sprang out in front of her. She rushed back over to the card and jumped up, opening her wings to fly at its head. Dash glowed as she pumped her wings and surged at the surprised Sand card. It's shocked face filled aura's vision as she summoned up all but the very last scrap of energy she had left. Her jaws parted and Sand was struck with the combined flames of Fire and Aura. It shrieked as its head turned into a glass like melt and fell to the ground. Aura swung her staff down at it, reciting the capture spell. Sand returned to a card and she signed it as she crumpled out of the sky.

Kero rushed over, as she lay unconscious on the forest floor, with scorch marks in her mouth and around the edges of her muzzle fur. He picked up the three cards and Aura's pen, and then hoisted the limp chimera onto his back.

"I swear, this sort of slow thought is going to get you killed some day." He murmured to himself as he took off, a paw trailing in the sky behind him as he headed to Aura's tree on the hill for something to feed her and put on his foot.

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Come on people, I do check reader traffic, I would like at least a LITTLE feedback now and then...


	49. Snow

Snow

The pack trotted through the cooling forest. It was late fall and the weather was getting cold. Aura sighed as she walked. The cold weather fit her mood perfectly right now. After some of the pack had started preying on the easy livestock, the humans had set traps to protect themselves. She couldn't blame either of them for that, it was just survival of the fittest, and she knew humans always seemed to win there, using their brains. But she still lamented her packs losses. Two of the gray wolves had been caught and killed, along with one of the brown mothers, and that resulted in a loss of most of her pups earlier in the season. Now Aura walked through the chilly woods, hunting with the rest of the pack for deer. Four grey wolves, one brown, and the white wolf. Kero was home watching the TV that Little had finally got to work, though he had likely fallen asleep by now.

Do'vup stopped and sniffed the air. Aura also raised her nose up, catching scent of meat up ahead. The wolves trotted forward to sniff at some meat lying on the ground. Dev-vatlh stepped forward, but Aura put her tail in the browns path. "No, it's a trap. Leave it." She told the nearly grown pup. Dev-vatlh looked up sadly, but backed away from the food. The pack continued to trudge through he forest once more.

"I can't wander any farther from my den now, that big yellow fur ball will start to worry again." Aura 'said' to the rest of the pack. They nodded as she spread her wings and took to the sky. After cruising up a good ways she began to drop down, back to the pack. "I can see a heard of deer only a couple miles that way." She said as she pointed southwest, before soaring back up again.

The cool air brushed along Aura's cheeks as she plowed through the cold, heavy air, while smelling the start of winter in the air. Her wings felt heavy, and she sighed. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she would have to look out for prey on the way home. Her tail tilted to the right, and the feathers steered her over to a clearing not far off. Hopefully, there would be food below to bring home. Having to split the poor meals she could find with Kero in this cold weather was starting to show. Her fur was losing a little shine and her ribs were starting to show slightly beneath her fur.

Circling the clearing once, she tucked in her wings and made a dive for a scrawny mouse, but as she reached out with her claws, it slipped down through a crack in a tree, and out of reach. She scuffled at the leaves and pine needles a moment, before she tucked her warm tired wings to her sides and began to walk home. She shivered as she saw some clouds rolling in to the sky, heading her way. "Great." She muttered.

She sighed as some flakes began to fall onto her thinning coat. Sniffing the air, she thought for a moment. "I'm gonna stay at the cave it seems." She growled to herself. She kept walking on through the woods as snow fell and the wind blew. Her wings now cooled off, she took to the sky again. Pricking her ears, she caught sense of a card. She pulled out her key, turning it to a staff. Her snout swiveled, locking onto the snow cloud over her. "Nice." She growled, flapping upwards. She shivered as a flurry of snow flew at her. Then, she glimpsed the card weaving through her cloud. Aura's jaws parted and she growled a warning at Snow.

" Return to a card will ya, I don't feel like a fight right now, kay?" She whined. Snow looked over and smirked. "Oh gee, that is just too bad, isn't it? I didn't know, perhaps you shouldn't fight, and will give up instead?" She said mockingly. Aura growled and snarled at Snow. "All right then, if you want a fight," She pulled her lips back as far as she could and stretched her jaws as wide open as she could. "Then a fight you shall have!" She roared as she shot out a wave of fire at the card. Snow looked alarmed, and, maybe even a little scared, but dodged out of the way. The wide a wave of flames only grazed her dress.

Aura flapped higher and gave a hissing roar. She swerved and clamped her jaws over Snow's leg. Snow hissed in pain and kicked off the chimera. Aura swooped back up and let out another blast.

She panted for breath as Snow skipped out of the way. Snarling, Aura closed her wings and plummeted down to the trees. She opened her wings at the last second, and skimmed the forest floor, barely dodging trees as she went. She then landed quickly. She chose a tree, and crammed herself into a hollow between its roots, crouching motionless there. Snow flew right past her hiding place. Aura's tail twitched and she tapped an empty card with her staff. "Fire, come." She commanded. A glow game from her staff and the card, as Fire floated next to her master.

The two trotted after Snow. Soon they spotted her, and Aura crouched down, motioning with her tail for Fire to hide as well. Snow glided through the woods, looking around for the chimera.

Aura dug her claws into the leaves, and then sprang with a snarl onto Snow. Fire darted out and wrapped her long flaming tail around the card as well. Snow screeched as steam rose around the areas where the two cards touched. Aura jabbed her staff at Snow, sealing it back into a card, and then being signed by Aura. Aura looked up at the sky as Fire returned home, and with the storm no longer waiting, Aura decided that she would head there as well.

"Kero, I'm back." Aura said walking in through the door. Kero, in his true form, lay on his side, on her bed and waved. She gave him a wry smile. "You are really milking this whole broken leg thing, aren't you?" she asked him. He grinned and changed the channel.

After Kero had flown home with Aura on his back, exhausted by the fight with sand, he had tried to land with only three paws, tripped on his own wings, and broken his already hurt foot. Now he sat on Aura's bed with his paw propped up in a homemade cast, munching jerky and watching TV.

"So, anything happen while I was gone?" Aura asked as she shuffled her homework on her desk. Kero grinned a nervous smile. "Well, ya see… Jump got bored and…"

Aura sighed and rubbed her paws over her eyes.


	50. Cloud

Aura rolled over on the floor of her room, gazing at the ceiling. She flopped back onto her stomach, and stared out the closed window at the full moon hanging in the sky. Kero snored lightly on the bed; leg still propped up to heal.

She shifted once more on the floor, before giving up and staggering to her paws. She put two paws on the desk, and opened the window. The cold night air blew into her fur as she climbed the rest of the way onto the desk; stretching her wings and setting paw on the sill. She glanced down at the key on the desk, but shook her head and climbed the rest of the way out of the window. She crouched down, ready to leap into the sky, but paused again with a backward glance to her sleeping guardian beast. Her tail coiled around the key, bringing it up to her before it disappeared.

She flapped and rose silently to the black sky, into the starry darkness that would help her troubled mind. For indeed her mind was quite troubled at that moment. Her thought crowded with new worries, and not many solutions. Her pack had missed more hunts with fewer wolves, and they were all getting hungry. Winter was coming and they might not be ready for it.

Her wings beat the still air as she shivered, lifting her yet higher into the sky, past her normal cruising altitude and closer to the moon and stars above.

She shivered in the cold night and stared at the brilliant light the moon shone down in the dark woodland sky. Her mind wandered back to a main worry, about her pack. The yellow member, her guardian. She had counted her cards when she noted the book was almost full. She thought back to that day, in the afternoon.

'"Hey Kero, how many cards are there anyway?"

"Oh, I think there's fifty three if I remember. Why?"

"We have forty six, that means that when I get seven more, I'll be through with this task you gave me. What'll happen after that?"'

Then Kero had looked away worriedly, and not answered. She had thought that, perhaps, she might have even seen him shiver. She looked down wide-eyed at the ground and gave a worried sob as she teetered in the sky.

Her wings carried her farther into the night and she began to shiver even more in the freezing night. She raised her head to the moon, singing softly to comfort herself, and try to banish these fears and worries that clawed her mind that night.

She looked down, and gasped when she noticed how far she had flown when she had finished her song. Never before had she been this far from home, traveling this direction. The stony mountains lay behind her, and below was a landscape of pine trees, dotted with clearings, like holes, in a forest fabric. She smiled as she flew over a huge lake, and tucked her wings in tightly, diving down, and down, and down to the earth below. She closed her red eyes as she fell from the sky, and streamlining her body, fell faster than she ever had.

Bubbles flew from her mouth and fur as she slid through the water and twisted in it. She wriggled to the surface and looked at the sky, taking breaths in. She turned and dove down again, smiling as her fur kept her warm in the water. She dove as far down as she could, dragging her claws through the silt, and speeding up to the surface once more. She flew into the air and laughed as she splashed into the sky, and then back down through the surface again. She bobbed in the water, and then rolled over with her belly to the sky. She smiled softly up at the stars and moon. She lay back and floated on the water surface, smiling as a cloud floated in the sky. She opened her mouth in fascination when more clouds came. Her eyes stared up curiously as a little head poked out of the clouds.

Cloud stuck her tongue out at Aura and giggled, ducking back into her cloud. Aura grinned and rolled over, diving back to the bottom of the lake. She turned and powered through the water, jumping into the sky as she came up with two swift strokes of her wings. She twisted and snaked through the air. Cloud smiled and hopped through the clouds next to her. Aura laughed and dove, back flipping and tucking in her wings. Her tail flew behind her like a kite as she slithered through the night's sky.

Cloud jumped from her cloud, twirling in her leap and tapping down gently on another cottony cloud. Aura dove under her, and twisted in a spiral up through the cloud where Cloud had been just moments before. Cloud and Aura bounced and wove through the sky in play.

Chimera and the card wove in a ballet through the sky, weaving up as the other dove down, passing bay as they fell and flew. Flipping back and looping around, they danced in a game of tag, enjoying the open sky. Rocketing up and darting down, with no rules but gravity, and no boundaries but the wall between Earth and the sky. Slipping past and coming back, twisting through clouds and around the air the two chased each other in their game.

Soon Aura began to tire, and tapped down lightly on one of the solid clouds. She flopped onto the surprisingly soft, warm mist. Cloud sat next to her, and actually reached out to scratch the cat behind her ears. Aura smiled and looked around from the perch. Cloud touched the feathers with a sad look.

"These came from Fly. You're the captor, aren't you?" She whispered. Aura nodded. "Yeah... but don't worry, once I sign you I'll let you right out again, okay?" She said, drawing out her key and stretching it into her staff. The blue crescent moon shone silvery in the night as she muttered the sealing spell, and Cloud drifted into her paw. Aura signed her, and smiled. "Done." She said. The card glowed and Cloud sprang out again, smiling.

The two took off into the rising sun, back home.

Aura walked in through the window and smiled slightly at the warmth in the room. She looked over at Kero and began to worry again, as he gave her an anxious look.

"Aura, we have a big problem." He said.

Her nose began to twitch anxiously at the lingering scent of a human that shouldn't have ever been here again.

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Reveiw, please! I need to know what I need to work on in my writing, or at least know if anyone reads this!


	51. Song

Song

"Aura, we have a big problem." Kero said.

Her nose began to twitch anxiously at the lingering scent of a human that shouldn't have ever been here again. She shivered and looked around. The human was gone right now, but she could tell that she had been here.

Her mind raced, recalling the day she first had smelled this scent.

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"Miss Chimera, would you open the door please, there's someone here, who wants to see you."

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"Oh, by the way, my name is Ms. Ferguson."

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"Hello Aura, I am thinking about adopting you, isn't that great?"

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"I say that because I'm a warrior, not a pet. I'm a primal hunter, not a civilized young lady. I'm a wild beast, not a dress up doll. I'm a commander, not a minion. I hate stuffy dresses, makeup, jewelry, food I can't pronounce, and all those etiquette rules. I have hyper to enraged to calm to any other mood in a second personality. I don't listen to anyone who hasn't gained respect through a show of strength or skill. I get into fights quick and happy, and I am perfectly content where I am."

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"I am set on adopting a stubborn child like you, and turning you into a fine young lady. I want to turn trash into treasure."

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"Do not EVER call me trash, stupid purebred."

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"This isn't over, I am going to adopt and CIVILIZE you."

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And then she had captured Fire.

----

"Now, I have a problem I could use some help on. That lady, no way I'm going to get adopted by her, so, If you wanted to say, I don't know, burn up the adoption papers before anything can get signed, Just an idea."

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Fire had been doing that, but when she left over the ocean. When she called the card out to fight. Any other time those papers could have gotten through.

"Oh no… No… no no nononononono! This can't be happening!" She yowled as she grabbed her forehead in her hands. Kero walked over and wrapped a wing over her shoulder. "Don't worry, maybe you'll think of something. Maybe you'll find a way out. Or it might not be as bad as it sounds. Or…" He sighed. "This sure sucks. He growled.

"Was anything said?" She asked anxiously. He nodded. "When they come back, you're adopted." He said uneasily. Aura sighed. "Nothing I can do now I guess, but can you help me pack and move all my stuff to the woods? Then go back to your borrowed form, can't have someone shooting you, thinking you escaped form the zoo or something." Aura growled as she rubbed her eyes. "I've been accidentally adopted before, I'm sure that I can get back in a month or two, at the latest."

She smirked as she began to plot and scheme her dastardly deeds to be put back where she was now. Her smirk grew to and evil grin as she started to load books and toys into blankets. She dropped her paper, her snack, and other miscellaneous stuff in there too. Kero helped her lug it out the window and fly it to the wolves cave. Aura threw the dried meat to her pack as she came over, and began to dig the area up, and place all her stuff in holes.

Soon, Kero and Aura wee sailing through the sky, bound on their way home, Kero riding Aura's back in his false form. She backpedaled her wings, coming to a landing on the branch outside her room window. She opened up the room and stroked the wall. "Lock, you're going have to come out of there. I've gotten temporarily adopted; I may be out a month or two at the most before I can get back here, k?" Lock obediently returned to a card, and Aura stowed him in her pocket. She sat down on the bed. "Kero, what exactly did you hear when the came, what did they do, what happened basically?" She put him on her lap. Kero put a little yellow paw to his chin. "Hmmm… well, they knocked, asked you to come out, knocked again when there was no answer, the unlocked the door. Lock was asleep then; since you weren't here he didn't think he'd have to keep the room locked. But then some staff member came in here, and that Mrs. Ferguson lady was there too. They didn't see you, and I was aping under the covers. They didn't notice me but said they'd comeback around noon to see if you were back." He explained. Aura closed her eyes and sighed.

"Well, the nothing we can about it then, we'll have to convince her this is a bad idea. At least I'm not going to be guilty about it later though." She smiled slightly. "Anyway, it's about an hour to noon, I'll take a run around the woods so I'll be too wiped out to blow up and kill something." She clenched her fists and snarled. Jumping out onto the tree, she scampered down the trunk and bolted for the woodlands, tail streaming out as she hit the tree line.

She raced through the woods at top speed, enjoying what could be, for a while at least, the last time to see the trees whipping past her muzzle, the leaves crunching underfoot, the smell of the woodlands little prey animals, and the other plants. She loped through the forest smiling at nothing in particular. She hopped over a stream, landing on the other side with only inches to spare. She wagged her tail and howled to the sky. She howled again and took off trough the woods, heading for the cliff in the west. Her feet almost raced on the wind instead of the earth as she sprinted about. Her tongue lolled out the side of her mouth as she reached the foot of a towering cliff. Without a second thought she bounced up the side of the cliff and began to climb up it, almost as fast as usually ran. A paw reaching for a jutting rock, tail leaning for balance, then her paw grabbing the little spur of rock, and hurling her up as another paw reached out for the next ledge. Her back paws clawed the rock walls as they jumped off the footholds that had just been vacated moments before. She scaled the wall quickly, coming to a halt at a familiar old ledge. Kero plopped down on it, wheezing for breath and he flopped onto his back.

"This is where we got Thunder, wasn't it?" she said, sniffing around the cave. She smiled and continued to race up the rocks towering up to the sky. Kero looked up at her as she bolted up, out flopped back down, deciding she could manage the climb just fine if he stayed here to rest.

Aura climbed up to a long ledge, jutting out to the sky. She was very high up by now, about cruising altitude for her. She sat down on the stone ledge and smiled at the sky, perking her ears to listen to the sounds carried by the sky up to her. She pricked her ears harder as she heard singing, coming from the cliff edge to her right, and below her. She peered over the edge.

About sixty feet away, was the singer. A card, standing with her eyes closed on another spur of rock, obliviously singing a soft song to no one. Aura slid down, creeping over the rack and sliding past stone. Closer now, she could hear the song, though it was none she was familiar with. She sat down to listen to it.

"Wow, how does she know that song?" Harriss wondered to Aura. Aura looked over. "You know the song? What is it?" She asked. Harriss smirked. "A theme song. Ironically the very first one for a certain show." She grinned. Aura blinked. "What show?"

"Never mind." Harriss said, vanishing. Aura rolled her eyes.

Soon Song finished singing and opened her eyes, and immediately caught sight of the Chimera. Aura grinned in a friendly way. "Nice song." She said. Song shivered and looked around for and escape route, but was unfortunately very high up on a cliff. Aura got to her paws.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you, or confine you for more than a few seconds." She drew out her staff. And sealed Song in a flash. Then there came the usual routine of signing and releasing the card again. Song darted off, as fast as she could down the cliff without falling. Aura peered down to watch the card go. " Kinda skittish I guess. "She muttered as she spread out her wings. Soon Song was out of sight.

She glided down to the ledge when had left Kero on, scooped him up as he was snoozing, and flown back home.

"Aura, where were you this morning, there's something important you need to hear. This lady has adopted you." The girl said. Mrs. Ferguson smiled. "Well, I don't see anything you need to pack, so let's be off then." She said. Aura growled and followed, senses alert for anything that might help her to get back home sooner.


	52. LightDark

Light and Dark

"No! I refuse to wear it. I flat out refuse! I don't even want to be here!" Aura said, pushing her hands out in front of her and turning away in disgust at the dress. Mrs. Ferguson gave Aura a stern look. "I will not have anyone in my house dressing in common street cloths like you think you can wear now. You need to have better clothing now that you will be having a better life." She said, to the chimera. Aura stuck out her tongue in a 'bleh' expression, still holing out her hands and turning away from the clothing. "No, never, absolutely not! And if you don't like it, just let me go back home where you got me! I would rather be home t the orphanage than here! I hate it here already! And I absolutely am not wearing anything but pants and shirt! No dresses, no skirts, no flowers, no pink, not frills, none of that stuff. I'm not wearing it!" She declared, crossing her arms defiantly. The loud argument continued, neither wanting to give in.

Plush sized Kero rolled his eyes and looked back down at his book. It was a comic he had found stowed in another room. Apparently Aura had another person living in the house to deal with. She hadn't been upstairs long enough to catch the scent yet, but he could just imagine the snarling and complaining h would have to listen to when she did. He buried his nose back in the comic, trying to ignore the commotion on the floor below him.

Kero looked up and cringed as he saw Aura walk in with something that could be called nothing else, but an extremely evil, psychotic grin. Kero shivered. "Oh no, what did you do?" He asked as she looked around her room smirking. Aura licked her chops, as if anticipating a kill in a hunt. "Weeeeeeellllllll… She tried to get me to change into that dumb dress, so I took off with it and hid it up a tree about a black and a half away before she could catch me. Wanna wager on how long it will take for her to get it back?" She grinned a little less evil at him. Kero looked out the window. He could see the bright red fabric fluttering in the breeze on a tall, tall, tree.

"Five bucks says she'll leave it there." He said, holding out his paw for a handshake. Aura grinned. "Close enough. Five buck, I say she gets it loose again." The two shook on it and stared out the window, waiting to see who would win.

Later Aura was lying on the floor beside the window, staring at the ceiling, humming to herself. Kero was floating idly in the air, giving the tree out the window the occasional glance. Aura raised a claw in the air, hooking a floating cobweb with it, and rolling it into a ball before flicking it back in the air again. Kero looked down and snatched it, fluttering up to a corner and wrapping the cobwebs in more cobwebs until he had a ball of it in his paw. Aura looked up as he dropped it back to her. She smiled, flicking the ball back in the air. Kero floated left to bb it back. And so, for roughly an hour the two played a game that was a mix of tennis and catch.

"Hey, look!" Kero said, pointing out the window. Aura got up, peering as the tree shook in the wind and the dress fell out of its branches. Soon, Mrs. Ferguson walked out and picked it up, storming back into the house. Kero and aura looked at each other. "She went to get it."

"But she didn't get it herself, didn't even get it loose." The two glared, and Kero decided to be the mature one for once. "Let's just say we both won and call it even, I don't want a fight right now." He said. Aura smiled. "K."

Aura was roused again at a knock on her door. She rolled to her paws, standing up, and walked to the door. Opening it, Mrs. Ferguson stood in the doorway. "It's time for dinner, and time for you to meet your brother. He was also adopted out of that mud hole of an orphanage." She said. Aura's tail, now disguised as a belt, twitched slightly in irritation. "Whatever." She said, putting Kero in the corner. She walked out the door and followed Mrs. Ferguson to the dining room, and looked around. There was a dark wood table with a tablecloth over it, and lots of little ornaments and centerpieces, and matching chairs. She noticed the fancy lights, and fancy food set out, but not as much as she noticed the boy sitting in one of the chairs at the table. She felt her hands twitch as they clenched and unclenched, sprouting claws and itching to rake them down his face.

She narrowed her eyes, her face bunching into a fierce snarl, and brown eyes getting tinges of red. Her teeth almost grew into fangs as her pelt bristled over her spine. She almost started growling, but glancing at Ferguson's turned back, choked it down, and stuck with a snarl.

The boy looked up from the book he was doing homework from, and froze as her saw Aura standing near the doorway. His eyes widened and he gave a startled gasp. She twitched her hands and sneered a snarl right at him. She remembered what he did just perfectly.

--------------------

"You say this guy can pick any lock, how long does it take?"

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I could sense a lingering trace of someone else's magic on the other guy. To linger around that strongly, this lock picker, if it's his magic, might get through.

--------

" Lock?"

-------

The door opened and Devon strode in.

-------

Kero rushed and slammed the door shut, using his weight to hold it that way as the scumbag tried to barge back in.

------

Aura panted and cringed as her keen tiger ears picked up a string of cussing.

--------------------- -

She could clearly remember the chubby frightened face of the lock picker now. She could feel the magic sliding off him, and smell the fear as he recognized the girl whose room lock he had picked, and who had the giant lion in it, and how they had seemingly vanished without a trace into the foggy sky. Worst of all, Aura made it quite clear she recognized him, and was still seething over what he had done.

"Aura, meet your adopted brother Ralph. Ralph, this is your new sister Aura, who just got adopted out this morning." She said, cheerfully oblivious for a moment. She saw Ralph's fearful expression and looked back at Aura. Aura had her hands behind her and was standing casually next to her, an 'I'm -just -as -confused -as -you -are' look on her face. She looked back at Ralph, and the moment Ferguson turned her back, glared and snarled at him. She took a seat at the table, crossing her arms and leaning over casually, but never breaking her increasingly unnerving gaze. Ralph shuddered as she slowly turned away and used her claws to reach over the table and pluck a slice of the plainest smelling meat off a tray in the center of the table.

"Aura, don't use your hands to eat your food, and get your elbows off the table!" She said, aghast. Aura rolled her eyes and dropped the slice of meat into her mouth, sucking it down in one he gulp, with plenty of smacking, slurping sound effects. Her elbows, also, remained right where they were on the table.

"Aura, dinners over all ready?" Kero wondered as he floated over. Aura grinned and reached into her mouth, plucking out a chunk of meat about as bi as her fist from somewhere in her mouth. She held it out to Kero. "Leftovers?" She asked, not joking. After all the squabbles and claws unsheathed over half eaten prey in the woods, he gnawed at it, and noted it wasn't even real wet. "I got sent up to my room for bad table manners." She said with an even wider grin.

Aura walked over to the window and looked out at he midnight sky, as Kero snoozed away on her bed. She gazed out, fingering her key. "How am I going to catch the last four cards from here?" She wondered. Here eyes drooped as she sat down in front of the sill, gazing out into the gathering night. She closed her eyes, burying her face in her arms with a sigh. "No, I can do this. I won't justify her calling me trash, even if she doesn't know it. Even if something goes wrong. Even though Kero seems so worried about this. Even though…" She trailed off and began to gasp quietly for breath as she looked up to gaze at the comforting moon. Her shoulders tensed as she looked around into seemingly infinite black, inky, darkness. She growled, hearing, as it never echoed back to her. She fell to the ground, lashing her tail and standing ready for a fight. Her ridge of fur bristled as she began to panic. There was no feel, no sound, no smell, or sight here. She couldn't even feel any ground beneath her paws. She tried to summon her wings when she thought of this but to her dismay they wouldn't come.

"Okay, that stinks, but nothing but to try and fid where 'out' is." She said to herself. She took off at a steady trot forward. She swiveled her ears to try and catch any sounds, but there was nothing, for on and on, so she soon came to a halt. "I wander just where I am. I was at the window worrying, then I shut my eyes and opened them in here. I must be asleep then." She said cheerfully to herself as she continued to walk forward. She sand to herself as she trotted, grinning and holding her tail high in the air, curling over her head. She hummed a song as she went, but soon began to glance around in the dark. She shivered and stopped. "This is a real long dream." She growled.

She began to run franticly, snarling around, listening for the dear sweet sound of an echo bouncing off a wall, or an object, or a person. But there was nothing in the darkness. She skidded to a halt and roared to the sky, shaping it into a frantic howl. She shivered at the emptiness of the place, where none of her senses could find a single thing. She stared at her seemingly floating paws and yelped as she saw the dark slithering over them. Her tail bushed out and she reared up on her hind legs, trying to pull away, but darkness darker than her surroundings began to trickle around her, seeping up like water in her fur. She twisted and growled and snapped and even shot flames, but it crawled up her, wrapping around her and trying to choke her. She twisted and withered, panicking for a moment, and then as the fear edged on, she could feel herself going still, frozen in fear. She shivered and crouched down, tail curled around her. 'What is this? I'm fading? Am I dead then?' She thought to herself. She felt her fur stop bristling and her shoulders relax. 'Well, nothing I can do about it.' She thought as she began to completely relax. She dully watched the squirming shadows, and noted as they began to slide off, like water drying. She picked up a paw and flexed it a few times. "Weird. It goes after fear then? If it can think like that, I wonder if it's a card." She said. Sitting up she looked around. "Hmm… I already have a Nothing card… I can't detect a thing though… but I can hear myself speak. Wait…" She began to think to herself. 'If these cards seem so much like things humans would think of, the no wonder its got no smell or feel. I doubt they would think to check. I have hearing, and the only other sense they use a lot is sight. If that's all it's meant to block, then this would be…" She looked around. "Are you a card? Dark I would guess?" The inky blackness wavered and she guessed she had guessed right.

It came back and started to seep around her again as she began to vanish again. She growled and blew out some flame, but only a little angry puff, not even intended to hit anything. She held up a paw. "So, then how come it doesn't work on me if it suppresses my magic. I mean I still see me… let's see, what could a human think of now." She wondered

"Dark, see myself, glowing, light? Is there another card then? There's fire and ice, earth and wind, sword and shield, create and erase… so if it's another opposite set then maybe there is a second card.' She thought. As soon as she formed this in her mind, a glow floated out of her chest and formed into a human shape. She sniffed it, and could smell card again. "So, if this is Dark, the opposite of that is Light. Would you be the light card then?" She asked. Light nodded and began to shine, and the darkness gathered into a second shape like the first. A human shape clad in black.

"Yes, we've been watching you ever since the seal on the book was broken."

Aura blinked and covered herself, mirroring what a human girl might do if they were walked in on while taking a shower. "Gee, please tell me you don't mean that how it could be taken." She joked, and then began to seal the cards, nodding to show she was still listening.

"We do want you to be our master." Light said.

"But it's Yue's decision in the end." Dark added.

Aura's ears perked. "Wait, who the heck is Yue?" She asked, but the cards were sealed and silent now. " She looked around the room and immediately noticed Kero's anxious face peering at her.

"Aura! You're okay! I wasn't sure you could get past Light and Dark like that. They're method of getting caught, I wasn't sure you'd be able to put two and three together there." He joked with relief. She grinned and scuffled the fur on his head with her paw. "Don't worry, I can think like a human when I need to, though I generally try to avoid it." She perked her ears again as she remembered something.

"Who's Yue?" She asked out of the blue. Kero stopped laughing and shivered, though he tried to hide it. "Well, he's… you'll find out soon enough." HE said, looking down and away. Aura got to her feet and raised a paw. "Wait, why can't you tell me now. They said he got to decide if I could be Light and Darks master. Is it that way with all the cards, or just them, or what. And why does he get to decide?" She persisted. Kero looked up helplessly at her, and She sighed. It was obvious he wanted to spill the beans, but couldn't for some reason. "Yeah, whatever. I guess I'll wait." She muttered, curling up to go to bed. Kero hopped onto the real bed and looked put the window.


	53. Big

Big

Aura stared at the sky as she got out of the school gates. Looking around she made sure with a quick glance that she could use the 'I looked but didn't see you there' excuse. With that glance she darted for the field and tore through it at sprint, all but diving into the tree line beyond. She looked back and grinned at her escape, as she began to wander through the area, sniffing around. "You're sure there was a card around here?" She asked. Kero nodded and fluttered into the air. Hovering over her, he glowed a moment, before pointing a stubby paw to the east. She began to walk, following Kero's directions.

Soon she saw the card. "Don't worry, Big is an easy card to catch, aloof and all, doesn't really mind either way. Just go on up to her and I don't think there'll be any fight." Kero said confidently. Aura strode over to where Big sat on a log, staring into the distance before turning to face the captor.

"Hello." She said. Aura waved back. Kero fluttered into the air as Aura quickly sealed Big into a card. "There you go," Aura let the card out and wandered into the woods.

"So then, not counting Silent, I have one more card to catch now?" She asked Kero. He nodded and looked back. "Hey, where ya' going? Home is that way." He pointed northeast. Aura gave him a look where her eyelids were half down and her mouth was in a low set smile scowl. It was one you could call the 'You- just- said-something-real-dumb-and-if-you-stop-for-a-moment-and-think-you'll-relize-it' look.

Kero blinked and smiled in realization. "Oh yeah, going to hunt before you go, right?" He asked. She nodded and dropped onto all four, growing out her fur and stretching into her tiger form. Kero flew overhead as Aura loped through the trees. The took a path up to a good hunting ground, and Aura soon dropped into a crouch as she stalked a plump hare. Kero saw the prey she had, and dropped down at it, spooking it to run to Aura. She shot out of the grass and napped at it, missing and catching a foreleg. She almost let go to yelp as it's other paws began to kick, and claw her nose. She shook the hare back and forth, letting the stunned animal go a moment so she could dispatch it with a bit to the throat.

Kero winced as he saw her bleeding nose. "Ouch. That's why we usually hunt smaller rabbits then?" He asked as she began to clean her nose with her paw. She nodded and winced at the stinging. Kero began to build a fire, and soon the large hare was cooking. Kero curled up on Auras head, and she had returned to her humanoid form. The two sat watching the meat cook over the fire.

"Done." Aura said as she plucked Kero off her head. She tore off the limbs for him, and began munching the rest herself.

After eating, Aura began to wander the woods, not caring in the least if she was 'home' on time or not. She galloped through the trees, finding her pack on the way. They went on their way to the main hunting ground, and talked along the way, padding along the area of their territory where the woods bordered the mountain cliffs.

"So, some human thinks they can keep you as a doggypet? What sort of moron thought that?" Dev-valth asked, smirking. Aura grinned playfully.

"Someone who hasn't ever tried to take a wolf from the wild, I think she'll crack and put me back by the end of the week. I can be quite annoying when I want to be. The human doesn't have a chance." She said to the brown. Rethl-dis, a black pup from the survivors of the litter, sniffed the air. "When do we eat, I want to go eat soon!" He whined. Do'vup licked his chops too, sniffing the air hopefully. "No smell of chow to me." He whined. Aura sighed. Sometimes some wolves just drove her crazy. Though (in her opinion) there were fewer of them, just like humans, some wolves never grew up. Mi'jum growled at Mo'jun lightly. "If you want to eat then you have to learn to hunt better and better. Both of you." She said curtly. The others laughed and padded along, now alerted to their own grumbling bellies.

"Kero, fly up and look for deer, will you?" She told him. He, zoned out, blinked back into reality. Hovering in the air far above their heads, he looked around the stretch of woods nearby. Then blinked and dove back down. "Aura, there's another card coming!" He said. Aura perked her ears. "Another, what an easy day today. Which one?"

"The last elemental card. Water."

"Wait, what? Water?" She asked. Kero nodded. She lashed her tail. 'Water, and a stronger, elemental too…' She thought fearfully.

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Shorter than usual, but by the way, If your read this far, pleasepleaseplaese REVEIW! I do check reader traffic, and I want someone I don't know about to review, please.

(If I do know about you via past reveiws, you can still send them in though)

I would love to know what I need to work on please!


	54. Water

Water

Aura looked out to the mountains and cringed. "Why water, right before winter comes full blast, and just before dusk to boot." She whined. Kero shrugged. Staring off into the distance, she soon saw the snaky form of the elemental burst up from a stream in other canyon. She turned to the wolves. "You may want to get out of here, fast." She said, twitching her tail in the cards direction. The alpha wolf, Ghorhom, raised his tail in the air. "No, we'll stay and try to help." He said. Aura lowered her tail and nodded. "If you wish." She said.

And then Water reached them. Aura jumped into the air and roared. Water's head turned, and she slid up through the sky after her. With another flap, and a wing tuck, Aura had dove down the cliff wall and away form the attack.

She flapped overhead and snarled, letting out a small jet of flame experimentally. She flapped away as the cards head burst through the wall of fire without even slowing down. Kero flew beside her, and roared at Water, diving down at it, drawing its attention away from Aura.

Below, the wolves were snarling, and some were snapping at the base of the watery head, where it had attached itself to the ground.

Aura slashed at the water with her claws whenever it came too close, but the card only flinched and drew back to strike yet again.

Kero wan diving at it from behind, blasting little distracting fireballs at the card. Aura snarled as she realized it was useless to try attacking this way, and began to think through the cards at her disposal.

'An elemental, I'll need a lot of power. Fire doesn't work at all on it, can't see what Wind could do, or Earth either. If only I had a sponge card or something. Something absorbent? Maybe bubble or shield could contain it, but I need to drain the extra water from the rest of this card so I can attack.' She thought as she dodged and fluttered around the attacks. ' But I need something with more power than that. Something absorbent or a container for water… maybe a plant, like Wood? She does seem to be stronger than most cards, almost her own elemental. Worth a shot.' She pulled out the card and summoned Wood.

Water squirmed, trying to avoid the growing, thirsty roots as they encircled her, leaching away the excess water from the card. Soon, Waters true form lay exposed in the circle of root, squirming away from them and trying desperately to stay free and rebuild her watery hiding area. Aura was determined to make sure that she didn't.

Water shrieked as she started getting sucked back into the card. She let out one last desperate attempt to break free, and splashed out huge waves of water out to the surrounding area.

The wolves yelped, and Aura squealed out a warning, but before they could do anything, Mo'jun, the low ranking white wolf, was swept over the edge of the cliff. Aura powered through the rest of the sealing spell, and dove after the wolf. Kero circled anxiously overhead.

She rose into the air, wings beating heavily in the cooling night air. She looked up as she landed and whined. "Fell to far, he was a mess, broken neck, blood. No way he survived." She said sadly, glaring at the card that had caused the latest death in the dwindling pack. Kero sighed also, and pushed the card to Aura. "We still have to sign her," He said cautiously. Aura nodded and signed the card with a bitter growl. The pack dipped their heads and walked off, tails low and ears back. Kero looked over the cliff and perked his ears.

"Aura, you might want to see this." He said as he peered down. She got up and perked her ears curiously, staring at a glow in the canyon below. A white glow rose, like a mist, and it swirled as the wolf below glowed. Aura leapt to a lower ledge, peering closer as its back squirmed and twisted. She gave a small gasp as little wings wormed out of the dead fur. Kero looked sick, but also fascinated.

The wolf shuddered as she wings shot out and began to flap hurriedly, as if trying to lift it off the ground. Out of the spine rose a white shape, fluttering and struggling away from the body. A head came and gasped, and soon arms pushed the last of the person from the wolf with a lot of effort. Kero gasped as the face turned their way, long white hair slinking from the last of the wolfs fur. Aura growled and felt her spine fur bristling as the person flew up towards her.

"Yue, so that's where you were hiding?"

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another shortie, but I hope the next one will be longer. Meep!


	55. The final judgment

The final judgment

Aura bristled and began to growl, shoulders hunched and tail lashing. Kero looked over and brushed her shoulder with the tip of his wing, and shook his head worriedly. Aura looked back over at Yue, and slowly let her lips fall back over her teeth as she raised her head and began to sniff the air.

"Keroberos, is this cat supposed to be our new master? Is this a joke?" Yue asked, narrowing his eyes in Aura's direction. Aura's spine fur began to bristle again. Kero looked over at her hurriedly and gave a soft warning hiss. She forced her fur to lie flat, but kept her claws out. Kero almost whined aloud. "Yue… well, no. It's not a joke; I didn't know she was a shape shifter until later, but there's nothing wrong with that, right?" He asked. Yue looked away from Aura and turned his gaze to his brother.

Aura perked her ears forward. "Uh, okay, Kero, who the heck is this guy, and why did he crawl out of a dead wolf?" She asked, standing and returning to her human form, giving Yue an unconcerned glance. Kero set his mouth in a tight, barely contained snarl of frustration. " This is, well I suppose you could call him a brother, and his name's Yue… And, come to think of it why did you crawl out of that dead wolf?" Kero asked, turning curiously to his counterpart.

Yue was also looking annoyed. "That wolf was my false form, when it died I had to escape before I died inside it." He explained. Aura's lips curled in the makings of another snarl at the way he had referred to her pack member. Turning to Aura he continued, "I was in that wolfs form since the book was open. I have been watching you. Unfortunately a wolfs memory is quite poor, so this is the first time I meet you, candidate for mastery of the Cards, chosen by Keroberos the selector." He said. Then he grabbed her under the chin and lifted her face to examine her. The snarl line around Aura's mouth grew larger.

Kero jolted up. "Uh, Yue, I wouldn't do that if I were you-" Kero started. Yue turned to face him, still holding chimera's chin.

"Oh really, why would that be?" he asked, turning coolly to Kero. Aura let out a last low, unnoticed growl, before she snarled full out. She twisted her head around and sprouted her fangs, turning her head instantly and clamping down hard on the winged figures wrist. Yue hissed and clenched his teeth, whipping around, and tugging his hand free of her teeth. She let go agreeably, with one last snarling growl.

"Err, she's slightly territorial with her personal space." Kero dipped his head and grinned apologetically. Yue hissed, turning to glare at Aura.

"I shall now proceed with the final judgment, to determine if this thing," He emphasized thing with a hiss. "Is suitable to be our master. Using the cards you have collected," He swished his hand, and her cards flew out from behind her, "You must defeat me in battle. Should you win, you will become master of the Star cards," He said. Kero looked over at Aura and shuddered, frowning hard. 'Oh no.' he thought, catching her expression.

"Why on Earth would I want to do that? I'm tired; I want to go to bed. Why should I fight you?" She challenged, and Yue's eyes narrowed once again. Kero piped up with an answer he hoped would show Aura how serious she needed to take this.

"Because, if he thinks you should be our master, you get to keep me and the cards, and him as an added bonus. If not, you, and I, and all the cards will forget about everything that's happened with each other up to now. As if it never happened." Aura snapped awake in surprise. That was news to her, and not good news. Yue looked up.

"Are you prepared to begin the fight then?" He asked. Aura tilted her head to the side, and raised her hand in the air as if she were in school. Yue raised an eyebrow as she lowered her paw. "Do I have to use the cards if I think I could manage without?" She asked. Yue thought for a moment and nodded. She raised her hand again and continued. "What about a time limit, is there one? Or stage boundaries? What about those?"

Yue shook his head. "No, neither of those will be in the fight. Are you finished asking questions?" He said tersely. She nodded, dropped to all fours in her tiger form, and took her fighting stance.

"Let us begin then." He aimed at Aura instantly. Then fired off a blue crystal from his right hand. She tensed and darted to the side. She hissed as one of the crystals he sent out grazed her tail.

Dodging from the blasts of ice, she leapt into a tree. She drew out her wings and ducked behind the trunk. Then she floundered into the air nervously, beating her wings for altitude. Yue looked up at her, before also jumping into the sky, with ease.

Aura yelped and dove down back into trees as a crystal hit her right flank. She gasped as she skimmed the dirt, having forgotten the lost lift she might get on warm days thermals, when she flew the lowest. "D'arvit!" She cursed, straining to pull up to the right height. She hissed when she lost a couple feathers to a tree trunk.

Looking over her shoulder a moment, she spotted Yue in pursuit, gathering more crystals. '#* &! I need to get out of his line of fire! Soon too! Where do I have a fort built up that he probably can't follow me?' She thought. She swerved once to miss the crystals, and twice to miss the next tree. She flew and thought, and remembered the perfect place to slip into and hide while she thought up a plan.

About five feet in diameter and a rough dome shape, roof was full of sharp edges and a pile of broken glass brushed against the wall, three tunnels leading out of the den, winding around themselves, and a lump of almost soft stuff on the floor.

The old junkyard construction site, from the day she had captured Rain. With a few beats of her wings, she rocketed into the sky. Then taking off in a beeline for the site, southeast about a mile or so away. It seemed shorter in the air. Her heart beating in panic, it lent speed to her wings.

Feeling the bite of more crystals brushing her tail tip, she dove and landed in the junkyard. Then she took off through the metal waste, to the area she thought the nest was. Yue raced after her, mentally sneering at her apparent cowardice.

His right hand raised, he aimed carefully at the chimera as she ran in a straight line for now. He summoned a crystal. Then, taking one deep breath, he let loose a volley of icy darts.

Panic lending its last push; Aura leapt headfirst into her tunnel. She scrabbled around the first bend just in time to see the crystals shatter at her tail. She slowed slightly as she reached the center of her mud and metal cave, and lay there panting for a moment, puling out her cards and beginning to think. 'I guess I will need your help after all.' She thought, turning behind her with a snarl.

'Okay, let's see, what's the main problem? His crystals. If I stay away he fires at me and I can't get close enough to attack. But if I could sneak up, could he use crystals at close range? But how to sneak up?' She sat down and began to think, pulling her cards out and asking them for what they knew about him, and grateful when they warned her of certain things that would interfere with the plans she plotted.

"Aww, man, that takes a bunch of you out right there! Having to listen to him, that stinks. So who's out then?" She began to question and plot and plan, and soon a scheme was worked up.

"All right, Twin, Illusion, Dash, Jump, and Create, stay ready. Twin, Create, Illusion, get working." She said, as she slipped out of the entrance to the right of the tunnel she came in.

Twin picked up Create and began to write, Illusion glowed. They worked together to create something that would cause no harm if it were attacked. Dash slunk out of the main entrance, donning the Illusion and adding in threads of his own power. The plan was ready to go.

Yue circled the junkyard, watching for a black and white striped shape to run past his line of sight. 'Is this master such a coward that she will not even face me in battle?' He began to wonder to himself. He looked down to a pile of junk, as he saw a shape slink under some overhanging metal. With a couple swift strokes, he flew down at Aura. She tensed and bolted, running franticly through the junkyard.

Dash ran about, gripping the Illusion, in a form like a fabric, in his teeth, forcing it to follow his movements as he ran faster that any other card could. He heard wings beating, and some crystals coming close. 'Too easy.' He thought, dodging the slow shards with ease.

Yue ground his teeth in frustration. This candidate was using Dash to flee, and doge his attacks, yet was still too cowardly to turn and face him.

'I think it's time now.' Dash thought, turning to weave and twisting through the maze. He headed to a tall tower of metal. Then he saw who he though he would, and let go of the illusion, slipping into a hiding spot among the debris. 'Get it, get it!' He thought as a little shape grabbed the illusion from the air.

Jump looked down one last time at the exhausted Dash, and changed out Dash's power threads with his own. He bounded to another towering pile of scrap, bouncing as fast as he could. He winced and almost cried aloud as a crystal hit him right in his leg, bringing him down. But not before he reached his checkpoint.

'What does she hope to achieve by running, first with Dash? And now Jump?' Yue shook his head and pursued Aura. Her eyes bulged in terror and her tail bushed out as she fled away form him, gasping for breath.

Aura slipped onto a thick I beam and peered down from her perch. Keeping her wings stowed, she crept along to the edge of the beam, and crouched as Jump, carrying the cloth with the Illusion in it, bounced to the tower, with Yue in pursuit. ' Don't #* & up, don't #* & up!' She chanted silently in her head. And then the moment came, Yue was in position. With a roar she leapt down at him.

Yue turned and looked up in surprise as Aura roared, and snagged his long clothing and a good chunk of his leg in her claws. He hissed and kicked, shaking her off. She fell down to the ground, then summoned her wings. She tried to regain an altitude advantage. She screamed as a Crystal shot into her leg.

'I *#*ed up!' She roared in her head. She watched as Yue drew closer, his left hand glowing in a cutting spell. He brought it down on her belly. She fell. Though the spell didn't actually physically cut her, it still had the same effect. She kicked. She tried franticly to dislodge him so she could get away. He swooped back. Then used his right hand to blast out more shards of ice. She roared and fell. Falling closer to the ground.

She let out one last burst of flame. It knocked him back far enough for her to beat her wings and fly up out of reach. Yue glared, soaring after her.

Aura looked behind her. She saw Yue coming up after her, closing the distance much to fast. She shuddered. He brought up his left hand, curling it into a claw shape and getting ready to deliver a final strike.

Jump watched wide-eyed as Yue mercilessly slashed at Aura. She yelped and screamed, kicking franticly, and losing feathers and fur to the struggle. He looked at those cold, cold eyes Yue had, and felt his fur bristle. After one last scream from Aura, he tensed his legs. He flew through the sky and straight at Yue. He screeched out a battle cry. Then Jump watched as Yue turned to face him, hand still glowing from his last attack.

Aura flapped away as she suddenly felt the stinging vanish. She looked down, and saw Jump. He was heroically distracting Yue to his very best. And his best was pretty good. She even brought out a smile as she watched how Jump got the job done.

Kero circled the area, staying well out of the way, and he couldn't believe his eyes at what he saw. Then, his muzzle slowly formed a smile. This was what Aura needed. This would be enough to give her the advantage she needed.

Yue screeched furiously. He tore at the clinging ball of pink fur. The fluff covered his face, mouth, nose, and eyes. His head hurt as Jump pulled and tore at his hair. Jump was pounding with little fists on Yue's head. The tail was curled around Yue's neck determinedly trying to choke him. Furious battle screeches echoed the area, both from Yue and Jump. Then a third cry came. Yue felt a weight pummel his back, and sharp claws attach themselves into him. He screeched and tore the fur ball off his face. He turned to try and shake off Aura next.

Aura waited another heartbeat in the sky, before diving down onto Yue's exposed back. She fastened her claws in, and turned her head. Then snapped her jaws into the back of his neck, where she'd usually find some sort of a scruff.

Her hind paws swiveled into his sides; digging in for grip as her front paws let go. They reached quickly for his left wing. One sharp yank inward. She heard a satisfying, sickening sound. Yue screamed and fell from the sky. His left wing streamed uselessly behind him. Aura let go of him, and circled where he had landed on the ground.

Yue got up, staggering with pain and trying to cradle his broken wing, where it dangled uselessly on his shoulder. He clenched his fist, slowly, angrily, raising up his right hand to let loose a volley of crystals at the circling chimera.

Aura flapped out of the way of the ice easily. 'It would seem someone isn't used to pain. I never thought his aim would get this bad.' She thought in relief. She dove in again. Then pulled up as he slashed at her with his left hand.

She grinned as something occurred to her. She began to circle counter clockwise, and dove again. Yue turned and raised his right hand, summoning ice. She turned to circle clockwise. He tried to turn. She turned again, getting closer, staying away from his right side.

Then, a few feet out of reach, she turned sharply. She put herself out of the way of his left hand. He turned, his left hand glowing. Aura raked her claws down his right shoulder. She darted off, keeping to his left again.

'So I was right, his left is for close range, his right for distance. This makes it so much easier.' She thought, repeating the dive, raking her claws across his face, picking up fear and desperation in his scent.

Yue cringed as he felt her claw him once again. He staggered. He was almost to the point of collapse. He fired off more crystals, missing as she wove to his left.

Aura landed on the ground, still running. 'There! I should be able to give a couple more blows to the legs! When he falls over, I'll use that chance to finish this.'

She ran in circles. Narrowed the distance with every loop. With a growl, she hopped away from some crystals. Then she chomped down on his leg a moment. Then sprang back again. She circled, leapt, bit, released, and hopped back! Circle, bite, back! Circle, bite, back! Circle, bite, back!

And then it happened. She tugged his leg in her teeth, and roared triumphantly as he fell onto the ground. She snarled and jumped at his neck. She sunk her teeth, not into the spine, like she would if she were hunting, but into his windpipe. She clenched her jaw, just hard enough to cut off his air.

'No!' Yue thought, as he tried to breath. 'I lost? This is going to be our new master? I don't want her to be my master! But I said… I have to keep my word.' He thought as he miserably stopped struggling and lay limp, trying to signal he had given up. He felt the pressure on his neck lessen, and he gasped for breath. Then, hearing a low growl, he began to recite his speech.

"The judgment is complete. I, Yue the judge, acknowledge Aura as our new master." He gasped.

Aura, still loosely holding Yue's neck, looked up at Kero, and tilted her ears. Kero nodded, and she let go of Yue's throat, letting his head fall to the ground as he gasped for breath, while repressing screams of pain from his wing and his scratches.

Kero bounded over, licking Aura's muzzle briefly, and then looking down at Yue. He winced. "That looks like it hurts." He stated. Yue growled at Kero. Aura sniffed her new guardian, then turned to Kero. "Kero, can you stay here and keep everything under control? I'm going to make a flight to the tree, I need to get some stuff and patch him up. Hey, Jump, Are you okay?" She called.

Jump limped out on all fours, one of his hind legs clutched tight against his belly, but there was no blood, so she guessed it was just bruised or something.

Spreading her wings, she took off to the east. Kero watched her go, and then turned to Yue.

"Don't worry, once you get to know her, she's actually pretty nice."

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By the way, the card changing arc will be a second story, so this half is done. If you review, I'll note you when I post the first chapter of that. Because if you reveiw, I'll know you exist, and want to read the next half of the story.


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